Stewardship is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.”
For Placer Land Trust, that “something” is natural landscapes, and we take the responsibility of caring for them seriously. Members of our community trust us with their land, and their donations, to ensure the high quality land in our care is protected and maintained. This is not just today’s responsibility, it is one we gladly take on for generations to come.
Land Management
Placer Land Trust owns many of our preserves. As landowners, it is our duty to assess and manage each property, balancing benefit to the community with maximizing conservation values. These responsibilities vary by the property, but may include:
- Protecting wildlife habitat
- Reducing fuel loads to manage risk of fire and improve forest health
- Removing trash and other impacts from humans
- Restoring streams and wetlands
- Managing livestock grazing leases with local ranchers
- Controlling invasive plants
- Building and maintaining trails, gates and fencing
- Leading educational tours for members and other conservation groups
- Allowing others to conduct research on the land
We also explore new methods and techniques to manage land and habitat, known as “adaptive management.”
Easement Monitoring
Sometimes Placer Land Trust protects land with a conservation easement (or agricultural conservation easement) and it remains in private ownership. A conservation easement is a legal agreement with a landowner to protect the natural values of the land forever, limiting future development and extractive uses. Placer Land Trust staff must visit or “monitor” each property protected by a conservation easement at least once a year in order to:
- Maintain a strong working relationship with landowner
- Ensure the conservation easement agreement is being upheld
- Advise the landowner on good land stewardship practices
- Record the condition of the land and changes from year to year
- Work with the landowner to resolve any violations of the conservation easement
We also work to educate other landowners on opportunities to conserve their land with a conservation easement.
We hope that our great care of the land will allow current and future generations to benefit from clean water and air, locally grown and raised food, and places to play outdoors and experience our natural wonders.
Are you interested in getting your hands dirty? Check out our Volunteer page for possible opportunities to help Placer Land Trust staff steward our preserves and trails!
To learn more about the lands in our care, check out our Protected Lands page.