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.
Catamount Ranch
The Catamount Ranch near Colorado Springs had been a YMCA camp for decades, but eventually was put up for sale. Competing with numerous development proposals, TPL saved the great majority of the ranch for public access in 1996. read more »Cedar Springs
Cedar Springs is just 30 minutes from downtown Flagstaff and 45 minutes from the Grand Canyon. TPL successfully approached the landowner--who had a long, dedicated history of conservation--with the proposal that Cedar Springs become Arizona's first FLP project. read more »Chalk Creek Ranch
Located in the High Uinta Range in scenic Summit County, Utah, the forests, alpine lakes, beaver ponds, and streams of this 8,890-acre ranch offer an abundance of wildlife habitat. read more »Clark Farm
Located just 20 minutes outside downtown Portland, the Clark Farm and Forest is a natural gem in an increasingly developed setting. read more », spirits, and communities and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
