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.
Dry Lakes Ranch
In October 2011, The Trust for Public Land and its partners permanently protected 1,855 acres of Dry Lakes Ranch, originally established in the 1890s. read more »Echodale Farm
Located at the heart of Park Hill, 165-acre Echodale Farm was once the largest unprotected working farm in Easthampton and vulnerable to residential development. read more »Eden Forest
TPL conserved more than 5,700 acres of private forestland, known as Eden Forest, in the towns of Johnson and Eden, Vermont. The property, which borders four miles of the Long Trail State Forest, will continue to be owned and sustainably managed for timber by the Green Crow Corporation. read more »Ferris Farm
In November 2007, TPL permanently protected this historic farm, whose pastures, cornfields, and prominent rock outcroppings have contributed to the community's character for well over a century. read more », spirits, and communities and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
