Working Lands
Credit: Arna Johnson
The nation's farms, ranches, and forests yield food food and timber, support local economies, safeguard clean water, and comprise some of our most beautiful landscapes. A working landscape may be a Western forest of tens of thousands of acres, an emerald mosaic of ranchland in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, or the last farm in a New England town, supplying healthy food while linking the community to its rural past.
Such lands are too important to be lost to poorly planned development. The Trust for Public Land works with landowners, agencies, and communities to keep working lands working while preserving their environmental benefits—often through the use of conservation easements that prevent development while permitting ranching, farming, and sustainable forestry to continue. The result: lands that continue to support our bodies, industries, spirits, and communities, and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
Explore some of our working lands projects below. Choose a state to get started.
Northampton Community Farm
In 2010, The Trust for Public Land worked with the city of Northampton to conserve Bean and Allard Farms along the Mill River, to preserve local farming for the community, and expand recreational opportunities. read more »Olliffe Ranch
In 2006, The Trust for Public Land placed a conservation easement over 1,521 acres of Olliffe ranch. read more »OW Ranch
With Park City but a few miles away from OW ranch, development and subdivisions have been spilling eastward for years into the farming communities, threatening the rural landscape. read more »Peaceful Valley Ranch
Located on the eastern border of the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City, 7,300-acre Peaceful Valley Ranch epitomizes the region's pastoral beauty. read more », spirits, and communities and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
