Protect

At the core of our three-part program is direct land protection.

Critical Landscapes

In order to be as effective as our limited resources allow, we have identified areas throughout Minnesota in which we focus the majority of our work. These critical landscapes represent Minnesota’s land legacy.

Conservation Easements

We use a number of tools to protect land, but we're most known for our work with conservation easements.  With more than 400 easements to our name, we are the largest non-profit easement holder in the State and one of the larger land trusts in the country.

Click here for a map of properties protected by conservation easements.

For the Long Term: Stewardship

In order to permanently protect these properties, the Minnesota Land Trust has an extensive and highly-effective conservation easement stewardship program. We monitor all the conservation easements that we hold every year, we work hard on our relationships with the landowners to achieve voluntary compliance and we defend our easements when necessary.

Notable Projects

Every project is important to the owners of that land and to the community in which it lies.  But all Minnesotans benefit, too.  We see the effects in a scenic view that has been preserved, in a cleaner lake for boating, in better fishing, more ducks, more wildlife.  Below are some projects that benefit us all.

Partnerships

The Minnesota Land Trust cannot do its work alone. We often join forces with others to leverage funding, or implement individual projects. Below are some examples.