The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Established in 1984, the Adirondack Land Trust (ALT) is dedicated to protecting open space, working landscapes such as farmlands and managed forests, as well as other lands contributing to quality of life for Adirondack residents. 

The Nature Conservancy and Adirondack Land Trust

The Nature Conservancy's Adirondack Chapter and ALT are separate organizations that operate under one roof. Each has its own volunteer Board of Trustees helping to guide conservation work in the Adirondack region. In 1988, ALT and the Conservancy solidified their partnership to become a combined local conservation force distinguished by its ability to accomplish a broad range of ecological goals while also preserving people's livelihoods.

Example Projects:

• Farmland Protection
  ALT and local Farmland Bureaus have been instrumental in securing state-funded agricultural easements in Essex and Clinton Counties. These projects are helping to keep agricultural land in agriculture and fuel a major economic engine of the region. In addition to protecting specific parcels of land by requiring sound farming practices and permanently retiring development rights, these easements often provide capital that farmers can re-invest in their operations. ALT has helped protect more than 6,500 acres of productive agricultural lands.
   
• Upper Saranac Lake
  On Bartlett Bay, ALT conserved 1,800 feet of pristine shoreline bounded on two sides by "forever wild" Forest Preserve (part of the 67,000-acre Saranac Lakes Wild Forest). The property, which had been approved for a four-lot subdivision, will remain unspoiled, and the bay, which is part of the historic Bartlett Carry canoe route, will remain a place of quiet beauty for this and future generations.

About the Adirondacks

• Size
  Six million acres in size. Approximately 2.5 million of those are state-owned and 3.5 million are privately owned.

• Natural Features
  The Adirondacks contain the largest old-growth forest in the Northeast; more than 40 mountains above 4,000 feet; 2,800 lakes and ponds; and 30,000 miles of rivers, brooks, and streams.
• Residents
  More than 131,000 year-round residents live in the Adirondacks, and 70 million people live within a day's drive of the area's boundaries.