Trust for Public Land

Trust for Public Land

Formation	1972; 52 years ago (1972)
Founder	Huey Johnson
Founded at	San Francisco, California, US
Location	San Francisco, California, US
President and Chief Executive Officer	Diane Regas
Website	www.tpl.org

The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come".^[1] Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has completed 5,000 park-creation and land conservation projects across the United States, protected over 3 million acres,^[2] and helped pass more than 500 ballot measures—creating $70 billion in voter-approved public funding for parks and open spaces.^[3] The Trust for Public Land also researches and publishes authoritative data about parks, open space, conservation finance, and urban climate change adaptation.^[4][5][6] Headquartered in San Francisco, the organization is among the largest U.S. conservation nonprofits,^[7] with approximately 30 field offices across the U.S., including a federal affairs function in Washington, D.C.^[8][9][10]

Focus areas

Consistent with its "Land for People" mission, the Trust for Public Land is widely known for urban conservation work, including New York City playgrounds and community gardens,^[11][12] Chicago's 606 linear park,^[13] Los Angeles green alleys,^[14][15] Climate-Smart Cities programs in 20 American cities,^[16] and "The 10-Minute Walk" initiative, which aims to put a high-quality park or open space within a 10-minute walk of every resident of every U.S. urban census tract.^[17][18]

The Trust for Public Land simultaneously focuses on public access-oriented land protection, such as additions to Yosemite National Park,^[19] the Appalachian Trail,^[20] Cape Cod National Seashore,^[21] and other national, state, and municipal parks across America.^[22][23][24] The organization also prioritizes projects that celebrate and advance social equity, like helping to create Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, the Stonewall National Monument, and the Kashia Coastal Reserve.^[25]

Although the Trust for Public Land is an accredited land trust,^[26] the organization differs from conventional land trusts in that it does not generally hold or steward conservation property interests. Instead, the Trust for Public Land works with community members, public agencies, and other conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to identify park-creation and land protection projects, and then helps plan, fund, protect, and/or create those spaces, with ownership of any resulting property interests typically transferring to local, state, or federal public agencies, or to other conservation NGOs.^[27]

In addition to creating parks and protecting open spaces, the Trust for Public Land is a leading advocate for public conservation funding at the local, state, and federal levels.^[28][29][30] Through campaigns, ballot measures, and legislative advocacy, the organization works—often in concert with its affiliated 501(c)(4) nonprofit, the Trust for Public Land Action Fund—to ensure adequate funding for many of the federal and state public funding programs relied on by public park and conservation agencies, and by conservation NGOs.^[4][5]

The Trust for Public Land also researches, publishes, and contributes to many authoritative national databases and platforms providing information about U.S. parks, protected open spaces, conservation finance, and urban climate risks, including ParkScore,^[31] ParkServe,^[32] Parkology,^[33] The Conservation Alamanac,^[34] the National Conservation Easement Database,^[35] LandVote,^[36] and "Climate-Smart Cities" Decision Support Tools.^[6]

Strategies, programs and initiatives

• Parks for People, a strategy for providing close-to-home access to nature through parks, playgrounds, trails, community gardens, and other outdoor public spaces in U.S. cities, towns, and suburbs .^[37]
• Our Land, a strategy for protecting wild, working, and other open spaces, with an emphasis on enabling public access to natural areas for outdoor recreation.^[38]
• Climate-Smart Cities™ program, which helps municipalities assess climate risks, develop resilience strategies, and identify sites for parks, greenways, and other multi-benefit green infrastructure, using GIS -based, city-specific decision support tools.^[6]
• 10-Minute Walk campaign—a collaboration with the National Recreation and Park Association and Urban Land Institute—which seeks to ensure that everyone in urban America lives within a 10-minute walk of a high-quality park or open space.^[39] Since this initiative's 2017 launch, 200 U.S. mayors have taken the 10-Minute Walk Pledge for their cities.^[40][41][42]
• Center for City Park Excellence, which provides "research on parks and works to create, improve, and promote urban parks", and maintains the Trust for Public Land's ParkServe, ParkScore, and Parkology platforms, which provide, respectively, maps and data about 14,000 U.S. municipal park systems,^[43] park system rankings for America's 100 largest cities,^[44] and information about how communities can create and steward high-quality parks.^[45]

Services

• Plan – The Trust for Public Land provides GIS-based spatial analysis services, including greenprinting, greenway and trail planning, and large landscape analysis.^[46][47]
• Fund – The organization advocates for public conservation funding by providing technical assistance, campaign services, research data, and conservation economics analyses.^[3]
• Protect – The Trust for Public Land works with willing sellers, public agencies, and conservation nonprofits to negotiate, structure, fund, and complete the conservation real estate transactions that result in the acquisition and protection of land for parks and open spaces.^[48]
• Create – The organization helps communities plan, site, design, construct, and restore parks, using community engagement, participatory design, and creative placemaking techniques.^[49]

History

The Trust for Public Land was founded in San Francisco in 1972 by Huey Johnson, the former western regional director of The Nature Conservancy, and other San Francisco Bay Area and national lawyers and conservationists. Johnson's goal was to create an organization that would use emerging real estate, legal, and financial techniques to conserve land for human use and public benefit. An additional founding goal was to extend the conservation and environmental movements to cities, where an increasingly large segment of the population lived.^[50] Early Trust for Public Land programs of the 1970s and '80s included:

• The Urban Land Program, which led to the creation of parks and gardens in Oakland, California, San Francisco, New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and other cities.^[51]
• The Public Land Program, which included transactions that helped create the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in Idaho, among other parks and preserves.^[51]
• The Land Trust Program, which helped found or train about one-third of the nation's then-existing local land trusts. In the 1980s, the Trust for Public Land joined other groups to found the Land Trust Alliance, in order to train and support local land trusts.^[52]

The Trust for Public Land Action Fund

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Trust for Public Land is legally limited in the amount it can spend on campaigning for legislative and ballot measures. In 2000, the organization launched a 501(c)(4) affiliate, The Conservation Campaign, which is not limited in such spending. This affiliate entity is now called the Trust for Public Land Action Fund and frequently works with the Trust for Public Land to help pass local and state conservation finance measures.^[53]

Noteworthy projects

• The 606/Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago^[54]
• Appalachian Trail additions in multiple states^[55][56][57]
• Atlanta Beltline^[58][59]
• Boston African American National Historic Site^[60]
• Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness/Superior National Forest expansion, Minnesota^[61][62]
• Cape Cod National Seashore additions^[63]
• Civic Center Playgrounds, San Francisco^[64][65]
• Connecticut Lakes Headwaters, New Hampshire^[66]
• East Boston Greenway^[67][68]
• Everglades National Park expansion, Florida^[69]
• Green Alleys, Los Angeles^[70][71]
• Hollywood Sign/Cahuenga Peak, Los Angeles^[72]
• Kashia Coastal Reserve, Sonoma County, California^[73]
• Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, Atlanta^[74]
• Montana Legacy Project, the largest private conservation transaction in U.S. history^[75][76]
• Neponset River Greenway, Boston and Milton, Massachusetts^[77][78][79]
• Newark Riverfront Park^[80][81]
• New York City Community Gardens^[82][83]
• New York City Playgrounds^[84][85]
• Pacific Crest Trail expansion^[86]
• The Preserve, Old Saybrook, Connecticut^[87]
• Queensway, New York City^[88]
• Runyon Canyon Park expansion, Los Angeles^[89]
• San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County^[90][91]
• Sterling Forest State Park, Orange County, New York^[92]
• Stonewall National Monument, New York City^[74]
• Yellowstone National Park ecosystem, Wyoming^[93]
• Yosemite National Park expansion, California
• Virgin Islands National Park expansion^[94]
• Walden Woods, Concord, Massachusetts^[95]
• Weir Farm National Historic Site, Wilton and Ridgefield, Connecticut^[96][97]
• Zion National Park expansion, Utah^[98]

References

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2. "I'm for parks and open space". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
3. "Fund". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
4. "Strategy - The Trust for Public Land Action Fund". The Trust for Public Land Action Fund. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
5. "LWCF: four letters you should know". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
6. "Climate-Smart Cities™". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
7. "The 200 Largest U.S. Charities List: Environment/Animal". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
8. "Offices". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
9. "Policy & Legislation". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
10. "Plan". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
11. Foderaro, Lisa W. (2015-06-24). "A New Playground in the Bronx Soaks Up the City's Problematic Storm Water". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
12. "History of the Community Garden Movement : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
13. Vivanco, Leonor. "The 606 trail, a study in contrasts, celebrates its first birthday". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
14. Schlossberg, Tatiana (2016-07-11). "Los Angeles Looks for Extra Water Down Its Alleys". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
15. "South LA Green Alley Master Plan « City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program". City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
16. "Climate-Smart Cities™". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
17. "Everyone deserves a park". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
18. "Urban Parks and the 10-Minute Challenge". www.governing.com. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
19. "Yosemite National Park Grows Toward West In Largest Expansion Since 1949". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
20. "College sells farm to be added to the Appalachian Trail". The Dartmouth. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
21. "WCAI | Cape Cod National Seashore Anniversary". www.wgbh.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
22. Carlton, Jim (2012-07-22). "Land Rush at National Parks". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
23. Barboza, Tony (2012-04-14). "Miles of California coastline to be preserved". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
24. "Lumber River State Park expands by 1,054 acres with Trust for Public Land help | NC State Parks". www.ncparks.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
25. Ownership of Tribal Land Restored at the Kashia Coastal Reserve, retrieved 2018-04-15
26. skatz (2017-08-10). "39 Land Trusts Achieve National Recognition". www.landtrustalliance.org. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
27. "Frequently Asked Questions". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
28. "Policy & Legislation". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
29. "Fund". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
30. Callaghan, Anna (2016-12-28). "The 6 Best Environmental Groups to Donate to for a Better World". Outside Online. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
31. "Ranked: Best and Worst of U.S. Park Systems". Retrieved 2018-04-15.
32. "About / Contact Us". StateScoop. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
33. "The Trust for Public Land Makes Park Information Database and Platform Available to Millions". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
34. "Conservation Almanac". www.conservationalmanac.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
35. Abernathy, Steven. "Conserving Land And Preserving Your Legacy: When A Conservation Easement Should Be Considered". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
36. "Conservation tools". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
37. Young-Saver, Dashiell (August 22, 2014). "Through 'lost lots,' an effort to make L.A. more of a park place". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
38. "#OurLand". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
39. "The 10-Minute Walk Campaign | Feature | National Recreation and Park Association". www.nrpa.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
40. "Minneapolis, St. Paul mayors join national push for parks within 10-minute walk". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
41. "10 Minute walk". www.10minutewalk.org. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
42. Association, National Recreation and Park. "NRPA Awards Grant Funding to Support Cities Participating in 10-Minute Walk Campaign". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
43. "ParkServe Database and Interactive Mapping Website Unveiled by the Trust for Public Land". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
44. "Center for City Park Excellence". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
45. "Parkology". Parkology. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
46. "Work begins on PS 120's new playground". TimesLedger. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
47. "GeoInspirations: Breece Robertson - Making a Positive Difference on Protected Lands". www.directionsmag.com. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
48. "Protect". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
49. "Create". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
50. "Trust for Public Land Founding Member and President, 1972-1997: the Ethics and Practice of Land Conservation,". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
51. "Trust for Public Land Founding Member and President, 1972-1997: the Ethics and Practice of Land Conservation". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
52. Administrator (2014-09-15). "History". www.landtrustalliance.org. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
53. "Home - The Trust for Public Land Action Fund". The Trust for Public Land Action Fund. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
54. "Urban Parks' Emerging Role as Transportation Infrastructure". www.governing.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
55. "College sells farm to be added to the Appalachian Trail". The Dartmouth. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
56. "Land deal adds to Appalachian Trail corridor". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
57. "Appalachian Trail Corridor, Stamford". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
58. "Atlanta Beltline". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
59. "Atlanta Beltline Announces Design Firm For Enota Park Expansion | What Now Atlanta". What Now Atlanta. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
60. "African American Meeting House". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
61. "43-Acre Island in MN Lake Protected". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
62. "Chainsaw Sisters Saloon Site Protected as Boundary Waters Access (MN)". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
63. "Cape Cod Campground Permanently Protected". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
64. "$10 million playgrounds give downtown SF kids a safe place to frolic". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
65. "$10 million playgrounds give downtown SF kids a safe place to frolic". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
66. "Connecticut Lakes Headwaters". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
67. "East Boston Greenway | Massachusetts Trails | TrailLink.com". www.traillink.com. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
68. "East Boston Greenway". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
69. "Everglades". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
70. "South LA Green Alley Master Plan « City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program". City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
71. "Los Angeles Looks for Extra Water Down Its Alleys". The New York Times. 2016-07-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
72. "The Hollywood Sign Turns 93: A Brief History of the Iconic Landmark". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
73. Ownership of Tribal Land Restored at the Kashia Coastal Reserve, retrieved 2018-04-17
74. Benepe, Adrian (2017-08-18). "Whose Parks, Which History? Why Monuments Have Become a National Flashpoint". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
75. "Baucus, Plum Creek, Conservation Groups Announce Massive Land Deal - Flathead Beacon". Flathead Beacon. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
76. "Montana Legacy Project Makes Conservation History". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
77. "Parks, Lost and Found—Land&People". The Trust for Public Land. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
78. "Neponset River Greenway". www.masspaths.org. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
79. "Forbes Woods". Neponset River Watershed Association. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
80. "Newark Riverfront Park". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
81. "Newark breaks ground on Riverfront Park expansion". NJ.com. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
82. "Community Gardens". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
83. "History of the Community Garden Movement : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
84. "PlaNYC Schoolyards to Playgrounds : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
85. "New York City Playgrounds". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
86. "Pacific Crest Scenic Trail". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
87. MARTEKA, PETER. "The Preserve Is Officially Open For Passive Recreation". courant.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
88. Hargreaves, Steve. "Building America's next elevated park". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
89. "There Are Now 15 More Acres of Runyon for You to Love - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
90. "Los Angeles Natural Lands". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
91. "These investors want to build 19 mansions in the Glendora foothills, and conservationists want to stop them". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
92. Collins, Glenn (2006-11-28). "Ending Years of Dispute, New York Buys the Final Piece of Sterling Forest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
93. "Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
94. "National Park Service Press Release (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
95. "Walden Woods". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
96. Charles, Eleanor (1997-09-07). "Plans to Expand Artist's Historic Farm Face Hurdles". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
97. "Weir Farm National Historic Site". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
98. "Kolob Terrace". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-04-17.

External links

• Official website
• Trust for Public Land ParkServe
• Trust for Public Land ParkScore
• Trust for Public Land Parkology
• Trust for Public Land ParkEvaluator
• Trust for Public Land Climate-Smart Cities Decision Support Tools
• Trust for Public Land Conservation Almanac
• Trust for Public Land National Conservation Easement Database
• Trust for Public Land LandVote