The Arlington Land Trust, Inc. has as its mission the permanent protection of open spaces in Arlington, Massachusetts, for the benefit of our community’s quality of life, environmental health, and all our citizens.
The Trust is founded on the understanding that open green land offers welcome breathing space to our neighborhoods, natural cooling on the hottest days, water drainage and flood control, and habitat for birds and other wildlife. Land left undeveloped (or reclaimed) also demands fewer town services and lessens pressure on our congested roads. Most of all, open areas ensure places for our children to grow up out of doors — to run, play and be free.
We will serve as a vehicle for the preservation of the few remaining large undeveloped parcels in our densely-developed community. Also, we will foster and support neighborhood efforts to protect smaller lots that may not rise to the level of townwide importance, yet are critical to a neighborhood’s character and dear to the abutters. Helping to educate the Arlington community — land owners, town officials, and all its citizens — about the benefits of land protection is a core part of our mission.
The Trust will employ tools such as crafting, holding and managing conservation easements; receiving donations of property or easements; and purchasing and conveying property. As appropriate, we will partner with town and state governments and own and/or manage property for its recreation and ecological values. Financial donations, private grants and public funds will be accepted by the Trust for the purposes of carrying out our work.
As a private group, the Trust offers a choice to landowners and donors who prefer an alternative to public ownership and management of protected land. We can work privately and flexibly, negotiating confidentially with landowners. We can also conduct acquisitions in a timely manner, without the constraints of the Town legislative process. Yet we can work on projects on the Town’s behalf as well as the Trust’s own projects. We can offer land acquisition expertise to the Town through our volunteers with professional experience and knowledge.