Trust for Public Land

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, Chicago's 606 linear park, Los Angeles green alleys, Climate-Smart Cities programs in 20 American cities, 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.

The Trust for Public Land simultaneously focuses on public access-oriented land protection, such as additions to Yosemite National Park, the Appalachian Trail, Cape Cod National Seashore, and other national, state, and municipal parks across America. The organization also prioritizes projects that celebrate and advance social equity.

Although the Trust for Public Land is an accredited land trust, 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.

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. 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.

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 .
• 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. Since this initiative's 2017 launch, 200 U.S. mayors have taken the 10-Minute Walk Pledge for their cities.

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. 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Noteworthy projects

• The 606/Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago
• Appalachian Trail additions in multiple states
• Atlanta Beltline
• Civic Center Playgrounds, San Francisco
• Green Alleys, Los Angeles
• Hollywood Sign/Cahuenga Peak, Los Angeles
• Kashia Coastal Reserve, Sonoma County, California
• Montana Legacy Project, the largest private conservation transaction in U.S. history
• Newark Riverfront Park
• The Preserve, Old Saybrook, Connecticut
• Queensway, New York City
• Runyon Canyon Park expansion, Los Angeles
• San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County
• Sterling Forest State Park, Orange County, New York
• Yosemite National Park expansion, California
• Virgin Islands National Park expansion
• Weir Farm National Historic Site, Wilton and Ridgefield, Connecticut

References

References

1. "About us". The Trust for Public Land.
2. "Fund". The Trust for Public Land.
3. "Climate-Smart Cities™". The Trust for Public Land.
4. "The 200 Largest U.S. Charities List: Environment/Animal". Forbes.
5. "Offices". The Trust for Public Land.
6. "Policy & Legislation". The Trust for Public Land.
7. "Plan". The Trust for Public Land.
8. Foderaro, Lisa W.. (2015-06-24). "A New Playground in the Bronx Soaks Up the City's Problematic Storm Water". The New York Times.
9. "History of the Community Garden Movement : NYC Parks".
10. Vivanco, Leonor. "The 606 trail, a study in contrasts, celebrates its first birthday". chicagotribune.com.
11. Schlossberg, Tatiana. (2016-07-11). "Los Angeles Looks for Extra Water Down Its Alleys". The New York Times.
12. "South LA Green Alley Master Plan « City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program". City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program.
13. "Climate-Smart Cities™". The Trust for Public Land.
14. "Everyone deserves a park". The Trust for Public Land.
15. (26 October 2017). "Urban Parks and the 10-Minute Challenge".
16. "Yosemite National Park Grows Toward West In Largest Expansion Since 1949". NPR.org.
17. "College sells farm to be added to the Appalachian Trail". The Dartmouth.
18. "WCAI {{!}} Cape Cod National Seashore Anniversary".
19. Carlton, Jim. (2012-07-22). "Land Rush at National Parks". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
20. Barboza, Tony. (2012-04-14). "Miles of California coastline to be preserved". [[The Washington Post]].
21. "Lumber River State Park expands by 1,054 acres with Trust for Public Land help {{!}} NC State Parks".
22. "Ownership of Tribal Land Restored at the Kashia Coastal Reserve".
23. skatz. (2017-08-10). "39 Land Trusts Achieve National Recognition".
24. "Frequently Asked Questions". The Trust for Public Land.
25. "Policy & Legislation". The Trust for Public Land.
26. "Fund". The Trust for Public Land.
27. Callaghan, Anna. (2016-12-28). "The 6 Best Environmental Groups to Donate to for a Better World". Outside Online.
28. "Strategy - The Trust for Public Land Action Fund". The Trust for Public Land Action Fund.
29. "LWCF: four letters you should know". The Trust for Public Land.
30. Young-Saver, Dashiell. (August 22, 2014). "Through 'lost lots,' an effort to make L.A. more of a park place". [[Los Angeles Times]].
31. "The 10-Minute Walk Campaign {{!}} Feature {{!}} National Recreation and Park Association".
32. "Minneapolis, St. Paul mayors join national push for parks within 10-minute walk". Star Tribune.
33. "Trust for Public Land Founding Member and President, 1972-1997: the Ethics and Practice of Land Conservation".
34. "Trust for Public Land Founding Member and President, 1972-1997: the Ethics and Practice of Land Conservation".
35. Administrator. (2014-09-15). "History".
36. (21 November 2017). "Urban Parks' Emerging Role as Transportation Infrastructure".
37. "College sells farm to be added to the Appalachian Trail". The Dartmouth.
38. "Land deal adds to Appalachian Trail corridor". The Berkshire Eagle.
39. (2018-03-23). "Atlanta Beltline Announces Design Firm For Enota Park Expansion {{!}} What Now Atlanta". What Now Atlanta.
40. "$10 million playgrounds give downtown SF kids a safe place to frolic". San Francisco Chronicle.
41. "$10 million playgrounds give downtown SF kids a safe place to frolic". San Francisco Chronicle.
42. "South LA Green Alley Master Plan « City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program". City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program.
43. (2016-07-11). "Los Angeles Looks for Extra Water Down Its Alleys". The New York Times.
44. "The Hollywood Sign Turns 93: A Brief History of the Iconic Landmark". The Hollywood Reporter.
45. "Ownership of Tribal Land Restored at the Kashia Coastal Reserve".
46. (2008-06-30). "Baucus, Plum Creek, Conservation Groups Announce Massive Land Deal - Flathead Beacon". Flathead Beacon.
47. "Newark breaks ground on Riverfront Park expansion". NJ.com.
48. MARTEKA, PETER. "The Preserve Is Officially Open For Passive Recreation". courant.com.
49. Hargreaves, Steve. "Building America's next elevated park". CNNMoney.
50. (2017-03-14). "There Are Now 15 More Acres of Runyon for You to Love - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine.
51. (2016-04-23). "These investors want to build 19 mansions in the Glendora foothills, and conservationists want to stop them". San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
52. Collins, Glenn. (2006-11-28). "Ending Years of Dispute, New York Buys the Final Piece of Sterling Forest". The New York Times.
53. "National Park Service Press Release (U.S. National Park Service)".
54. Charles, Eleanor. (1997-09-07). "Plans to Expand Artist's Historic Farm Face Hurdles". The New York Times.