Maryland is home to over fifty local land trusts. Land trusts are not-for-profit corporations designed to protect land from development, using conservation easements, gifts or purchases of land, limited development, conservation buyers, or promotion of existing local, state, or Federal easement programs.
The Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) assists citizen groups in the formation and operation of local land trusts by offering training, technical assistance, administrative grants and real estate acquisition loans, through membership in the Maryland Land Trust Alliance (MLTA), an informal association of national, state, regional and local land conservation organizations working in Maryland.
Maryland Land Conservation Center, a central point of information on the web about private land protection in the state. Maryland’s efforts to protect its farmland, forests, and open spaces are some of the most comprehensive in the Country.