Southbury Landtrust

Southbury's Non-Profit Wildlife Preservation - The Land Trust

The Southbury Land trust is a nonprofit organization that strives to preserve farmland and natural resources in Southbury. All donations and fees derived from memberships go towards to maintaining and improving the land and the wildlife in its possession.

The volunteers of this organization make sure to maintain the properties. This can be a difficult endeavor, especially with more than a 1000 acres. On the site, there are 44 properties listed, all in varying sizes. All land trust properties are open to the public, with the exception of those that are dangerous for use, or house endangered fauna/flora. Some of the bigger locations have public trails on them, the maps of which can be found online.

The Land trust acquires land by donations, or by land owners who offer their land in exchange of its preservation. In instances that money is involved, a combination of state and federal grants, individual contributions, and town funding is used to finance acquisitions.

One thing that the Land Trust prides itself in is the impact it is having on the town of Southbury. The amount of preserved land in an area directly corresponds to how much that community cares about its well-being. The Land Trust also goes as far that concern for land and wildlife can be considered a measure for quality of life. Using this definition Southbury would have a very high quality of life. Not to mention that Open space and preserved land does increase the value of properties.
One example of the Land Trust’s concern with the surrounding community is its commitment to educating the future generation of farmers. Southbury’s Training School allows young farmers to practice their skills. This school is led by several farmers who have been farming in this community for more than a dozen generations. The featured farmers of this initiative are: Todd Hanan, Ben Platt, Sara Blersch and Dan Slywka. It is initiatives like these that are run by money collected from the community.
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Another example of the Land Trust’s concern with the surrounding community, is its commitment to educate the community on dangerous and or invasive wildlife and flora. On their website they mention the different species that need to be taken seriously, and what to do if exposed.

Learn More about the Southbury Land Trust