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.
Cold Spring Ranch
Located just east of Crested Butte, Cold Spring Ranch has operated in Gunnison County since the 1870s. read more »Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
The Trust for Public Land recognized early on importance of the extraordinary natural beauty of the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon-Washington border and work save it from thoughtless development read more »Common Pasture
TPL has helped protect approximately 290 acres in the Common Pasture in Newbury in a long-term effort to preserve this well-loved and iconic open space. read more »Copeland Creek Farm
For decades, The Trust for Public Land has helped protect Washington's family farms-farms like Copeland Creek, a 102-acre property in the fertile Puyallup River Valley. read more », spirits, and communities and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
