Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Land Trusts

[Kieran Roe (kroe]

On Thu, 13 Jan 1994 bridgeskt [at] vtnet.com wrote:

>    I'm looking for a source of information about land trusts, possibly
> several examples would be most helpfull.
>    An indivigual is donating some land and we are purchasing some
> other ajoining land and wish to make it a land trust for a small arts
> community. We would like to have the ability to sell our houses if the
> need ever arose yet keep the land in common.
>      I would greatly appreciate names of some reading material on the
> subject or any info others would like to share.
>                                   Thanks,
>                                          Ken Bridges
>                                          bridges [at] vtnet.com
> 
        Ken, 

        I volunteer for an organization called the Land Trust Alliance
here in Washington, DC.  They are an alliance of land trusts, with hundreds of 
member trusts throughout the country.  As such they are the premier
clearinghouse of information on all aspects of land trusts.  If their were
one resource that I'd recommend to you, it would be their "Standards and
Practices Guidebook"  which covers all the legal and
organizational practices that land trusts follow.  LTA also can provide a
list of of land trusts in your state, who are probaly the best source of
information on the particulars of land trusts in vermont.
        For specific information on community land trusts -- which seems
to be the type you are describing -- contact an organization called the
Institute for Community Economics in Great Barrington, MA.  This
organization is run by Robert Swann who has pioneered the concept of CLTs.

                                                Kieran Roe