Although land trusts have been protecting Pennsylvania’s special places since the mid-20th century, their work has accelerated dramatically in the new millennium. The 2011 census of PA land trusts found that the past eight years account for 37% of the acreage ever conserved by land trusts. Conducted biannually by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, this latest census found that between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2011, Pennsylvania land trusts:
- protected 80 acres per day;
- protected 233,182 acres in total, the equivalent of 2.5 cities of Philadelphia;
- increased the acreage protected by conservation easements by 88%;
- increased the acreage owned in fee by land trusts by 118%;
- increased the acreage reconveyed to governments by 35%; and
- increased the number of conservation easements by 106%.
Read more about Pennsylvania land trusts’ accomplishments in the Spring 2012 Issue of the ConserveLand Newsletter.
