There are as many reasons to protect land as there are people who love it. Some want to give something back to their local community while others want to create a conservation legacy to support future generations, or simply protect a special place they love.
With over 70% of lands in Minnesota privately owned, we need private landowner support to ensure our lands can provide enough of the clean air and water that we all rely on, as well as the critical native habitat that is required to preserve species biodiversity in the face of increased development pressure and climate change.
The support of caring, conservation-minded private landowners is essential to ensure the places we all love are protected in perpetuity.
Grant-Funded Permanent Conservation Easement
Could your property qualify?
Provide a few basic details about your land and connect with a program manager to find out if a conservation easement is a good fit.
Private Lands Protection Options
We can work with you to support your land protection goals—connect with a Land Trust program manager who can help you find the best fit for your family and land. Click or tap on the arrows below to learn more about each land protection option.
Permanent Conservation Easements
The Minnesota Land Trust primarily leverages legal conservation easements to protect land, shoreline and water permanently. These are individually tailored agreements through which landowners voluntarily limit the use and development of their property to permanently preserve its natural or scenic features. These features, called conservation values, might include significant wildlife and plant habitat, lake or river shoreline, wetlands, or important scenic lands which benefit the public.
Conservation easements can be used to protect a variety of lands that benefit the public through their conservation values. The Minnesota Land Trust concentrates its efforts on protecting:
- Wildlife habitat such as prairies, forests, wetlands, lakes, rivers, and streams.
- Water for drinking and recreation.
- Climate change resilient lands, promoting species biodiversity, and connecting nature corridors.
- Scenic landscapes, particularly those with local community significance.
Most conservation easements are placed on privately owned lands. However, sometimes public lands are protected with a conservation easement. Find out if a conservation easement may be right for you and get answers to common questions about conservation easements.
Land Donation
The Minnesota Land Trust may accept gifts of real estate subject to the Land Trust’s Gift Acceptance Policy. Typically, the Land Trust does not retain property for the long term but will sell the land and use those funds to further the mission of the organization. If you would like to donate land to the Minnesota Land Trust, please contact us to discuss next steps.
Life Estate
If you donate your land but keep a life estate, you retain ownership and use of the land for the remainder of your life. Upon your death, ownership of the land will be transferred to the Minnesota Land Trust. If you’re interested in leaving your land in this manner, please contact us so that we can discuss your conservation goals for the land.
Get the Landowner Options Guide
Learn more about options for protecting your land as a private landowner and get more information about conservation easements.
About the Minnesota Land Trust
Since our first project was completed in 1993, we have helped protect tens of thousands of acres and hundreds of miles of shoreline from future development. We’ve also worked to restore thousands of acres of imperiled habitat on permanently protected lands.
The Minnesota Land Trust is a non-governmental 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works in every corner of the state to protect the places we love and rely on along with our partners including federal, state, and local governments; other conservation non-profits; Indigenous nations; private companies and private landowners. Learn more about the Minnesota Land Trust and our accreditations.
Private Lands Protection Stories from Across Minnesota
- Restoration Improves Forest Health, Mitigates Wildfire Risk in Northern Minnesota
The buzz of chainsaws is punctuated by a crack of wood. Though it may seem counterintuitive, even jarring, this is the sound of forest restoration—specifically, restoration of 115 acres in Lake County, Minnesota. The owners of the property, situated directly between Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls State Parks, acquired a conservation easement in 2019,… Read more: Restoration Improves Forest Health, Mitigates Wildfire Risk in Northern Minnesota - Partnership Protects Bad Axe Lake, Northern Minnesota Fisheries
SAINT PAUL, Minn, April 26, 2023 — Together, the Minnesota Land Trust and the Northern Lights Council of the Boy Scouts of America have permanently protected a portion of Boy Scout Camp Wilderness, including over 3,600 feet of natural shoreline on Bad Axe Lake and 219 acres of land and water near Park Rapids, Minnesota. … Read more: Partnership Protects Bad Axe Lake, Northern Minnesota Fisheries - A Century Old Farm’s Greatest Yield Yet
The property in the Minnesota Land Trust’s Rum and St. Croix River Conservation Priority area includes the forested northern shore of Rock Lake and is situated between a Walmart Supercenter, golf course, and two residential developments near the growing community of Pine City, Minnesota. The most obvious and, likely lucrative, opportunity for retired farmer… Read more: A Century Old Farm’s Greatest Yield Yet - Persistence Pays Off—Protecting Tennyson Lake in Isanti County, MN
The Barrett family, headed by landowners Dale and Betty Barrett, have demonstrated incredible persistence in their steady pursuit to permanently protect Tennyson Lake in Isanti County, Minnesota, in the Minnesota Land Trust’s Twin Cities Metro conservation priority region. To date, they’ve permanently protected 322 acres of land or water and almost two miles of shoreline… Read more: Persistence Pays Off—Protecting Tennyson Lake in Isanti County, MN - Protecting & Connecting the Southeast Blufflands Near Brownsville, MN
Located atop a beautiful and steep forested bluff overlooking Brownsville, MN, this recently protected property—a generous full donation of the conservation easement—is in the Minnesota Land Trust’s Southeast Blufflands priority conservation area. Though small in acreage, the quality of the protected property, due in part to the landowners’ diligent restoration efforts, has an outsized impact… Read more: Protecting & Connecting the Southeast Blufflands Near Brownsville, MN
