About WALT
Land trusts are private, independent, entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations that have joined with landowners to protect private lands in the U.S. for over 50 years. There are over 1,700 land trusts operating across the United States. In 2007, two dozen land trusts in Washington formed the Washington Association of Land Trusts.
Land trusts have one primary mission: To conserve private lands.
Land trusts work with private 
landowners to protect conservation values on their lands through voluntary agreements called conservation easements. Land trusts are not environmental advocacy groups in the traditional sense. However, most land trusts work closely with agricultural and timber land owners and diverse partners that include county governments, state and federal land and wildlife management agencies and others to protect open lands.
Land trusts and landowners work together to negotiate agreements that protect land from future industrial, commercial or residential development. These voluntary agreements are called conservation easements. They play an important role in ensuring that as Washington grows and develops, the character of our majestic open spaces, the productivity of our agricultural lands and the health of our streams and wildlife habitat are preserved.
The nonprofit status of a land trust can help bring a variety of tax benefits to landowners who work with land trusts. Donations of land, easements or monetary gifts may qualify landowners for federal income, estate or gift tax benefits. Land trusts are also flexible and can act quickly in conserving lands.
Land trusts all have some attributes in common, but each land trust in Washington has its own unique working area, priorities, mission and goals.
For example, some of the land trusts in Washington work with landowners in a more narrowly defined geographical area, and cooperate with local governments, state and federal agencies and other organizations work in specific counties, islands, valleys and river basins in Washington. For example:
- Blue Mountain Land Trust works in the Blue Mountain region of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.
- Cascade Land Conservancy works in a five county region (King, Pierce, Snohomish, Kittitas and Mason) to protect priority landscapes including habitat lands, farmland, working forests, parks, trails and open spaces. They work in a broader geographic region to protect key estuaries.
- Hoh River Trust works in western Jefferson County to protect the Hoh River and its watershed.
- The Trust for Public Land is a national organization with a major presence in Washington State. They protect land for habitat, open space and recreation.
- Whatcom Land Trust protects wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and open space lands in Whatcom County in northwestern Washington.
Despite the diversity of purpose and geography in the land trusts in Washington, there is a common thread running through them, and that thread is a dedication to private land conservation.
To find out more about the land trusts in Washington click here.