All Forum Posts by: Erik Kingfisher

Hi all - I thought I'd make a clarification here regarding "Land Trusts". 

For anyone who got to this thread looking for conservation land trusts or conservancies, here are some links to learn more about how to get involved and protect your land: Land Trust Alliance, Washington Association of Land Trusts.

Land trust nonprofits, like for example the Jefferson Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy of Washington, or Columbia Land Trust, are non-profit 501(c)3 organizations who work with private landowners to conserve their land in perpetuity, and are different than the real estate beneficiary trusts being discussed in this thread otherwise.

One explanation about the difference between these two can be found on wikipeda:
"There are two distinct definitions of a land trust:

• a private, nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, or by its stewardship of such land or easements;[1] or

• an agreement whereby one party (the trustee) agrees to hold ownership of a piece of real property for the benefit of another party (the beneficiary).[2]"

Another helpful explanation about the difference can be found on LegalDictionary.com.

Hope this helps!