What is a Land Trust?

(and other frequently asked questions)

What is a Land Trust?

Land trusts are local, regional, or statewide organizations directly involved in protecting important land resources for the public benefit. Land trusts operate in rural, urban, and suburban areas. They protect forests, wetlands, farmlands, wildlife habitat, urban gardens, ranches, watersheds, coastlines, river corridors, streams, and trails - whatever kind of open land that is important to the communities and regions where they operate.

The growth of the land trust movement has been explosive. A third of America's nearly 1,100 land trusts have been formed in recent years, making land trusts one of the fastest growing segments of the conservation movement. Collectively, land trusts claim more than 750,000 members and have protected over 7.5 million acres of land.

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How does a Land Trust Work?

A land trust is comprised of volunteers who care about conservation. It receives no government funding but relies on the support of the private sector.

A land trust protects land permanently and directly by working with private citizens and communities. A land trust accepts donations of properties and helps landowners establish legal restrictions that limit harmful use and development on property they own.

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What is the Cobb Land Trust?

The Cobb Land Trust Inc. was founded as a private, non-profit organization by a group of Cobb County residents in 1992 to protect the dwindling supply of natural, scenic, historic, and cultural resources of Cobb County - one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

Development pressures and a burgeoning population have dramatically affected the heritage and quality of life for all residents. At the same time, local governments have been restricted by cutbacks for both environmental and social programs. The Cobb Land Trust offers one effective way to insure land use planning that will preserve land forever for the enjoyment and health of present and future generations.

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Do you protect land outside Cobb County?

CLT has chosen to limit itself to Cobb County, although there are other active trusts who can assist throughout Georgia and the country and CLT will be happy to refer you to them. You will find several at our links page.

Cobb is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, exceeding the pace of growth in other metro Atlanta counties and the State of Georgia as a whole. The Cobb Land Trust feels that this county deserves our undivided attention. County Government, in December 2000 added "conservation" as a designation in the County Land Use Map to "demonstrate areas permanently protected and those areas designated for permanent protection in the future." The county's definition of "conservation" is found in the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan: A Policy Guide 1995-2015".

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