Complete Report - Yale University

WORKSHOP SUMMARY3Optimizing Private Land Conservationand Public Land Use Planning/RegulationWorkshop SummaryBradford S. GentryYale School of Forestry & Environmental StudiesThemes from the discussionOver the course of the workshop, two broad themes emerged:●●The choice of private or public land conservation is not usually an either/ordecision – in fact, there are many situations in which they are mutuallyreinforcingThe right balance between the two is driven by mission and contextIf a land trust’s mission is limited to accepting donated conservation easements,then the scope for its engagement in public land use planning and regulation is quitelimited. If, however, a land trust has a broader mission – such as building sustainable,healthy communities over the long term – then it will eventually need to engage inpublic processes affecting land use.“Is the mission of land trusts to do transactions or to protect land? If thelatter, then we need to be more open-minded about the tools we use.” RandWentworth, Land Trust AllianceContextual differences stem from both the external and internal circumstances inwhich a land trust operates. Regional political differences have major impacts – ifthere are no public land use processes or if they do not function well, it makes littlesense for a land trust to participate directly (but they might help catalyze communityvisioning activities). If they exist and are effective, then many more opportunities forengagement exist. The regional “ecology of organizations” will also shape a landtrust’s options. If strong land use advocacy groups exist, then the niche for land trustsis smaller. If they do not, then the land trust may well need to offer a regional voicein support of land conservation in order to meet its mission. Finally, the land trust’syale school of forestry & environmental studies