About Us
Who We Are
Northern Michigan's landscapes inspire and restore us. They are the vital and irreplaceable heart of our communities, as well as our economic base. Our landscapes are what make our region so unique and a great place to live, work, and play. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy's mission is to protect significant natural, scenic, and farmlands – now and for all future generations.
In 1991, Rotary Charities of Traverse City determined that protecting natural resources was critical to our region's quality of life and created a four-county steering committee designed to establish a local land trust. As a result, the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy was born. Since then we have worked diligently to protect the important and significant landscapes that make Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Manistee counties special.
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. We are an independent organization with our own by-laws, policies, board, staff, and budget. The organization is funded by the generosity of private donors, as well as local, state, and national foundations. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has a volunteer Board of Directors and a professional year-round, full-time professional staff.
What We Do
We focus our land conservation efforts to permanently protect crucial wildlife habitat and corridors; critical watersheds, which protect the water quality of our region; unique high-quality farm lands; valuable forestland; and ecologically significant dunes along Lake Michigan's beautiful and endangered shore. We protect land in several ways:
- By working with landowners to permanently protect private land through voluntary conservation easements
- By acquiring high quality natural lands; some of these lands are the "best of the best" and become nature preserves which are open to the public
- By assisting local units of government with land transfers that result in enhanced public access to nature and improved recreational opportunities
- By providing technical assistance to local units of government with the administration of farmland protection programs
By the end of 2007, the Conservancy had protected nearly 30,000 acres of irreplaceable natural, scenic, and farm lands and over 60 miles of shoreline along our exceptional rivers, lakes, and streams through land acquisition, conservation easements, and land transfers.
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has assisted more than a dozen units of government in creating or expanding public natural areas and parks. Since 1991, we have helped secure over $40 million from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund on behalf of community-led land conservation efforts across our service region.
State and National Partners
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy is one of many independent land trusts across the U.S. Our work is part of a broader network of conservation; we realize that when we work together, we can have a greater impact. We are members of the Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation, which acts as a legislative liaison in the State of Michigan and coordinates and promotes sound land preservation policies. We are also members of the Land Trust Alliance, a Washington D.C.-based organization which performs the same type of role with the U.S. Congress and appropriate departments of the Federal Government.
Over the years, the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has emerged as a national leader in the land trust movement. We are proud of what we have been able to accomplish in partnership with supporters and like-minded organizations to pro-actively implement a sound plan to systematically preserve the natural lands and agricultural heritage of our community in the Great Lakes region.
Learn more about our staff.
Access financial reports and other publications.
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Support our work: We depend on the support of landowners, individual donors, businesses, foundations, and government to continue to protect significant natural, scenic, and farm lands and provide public access to the natural world in northwest Lower Michigan.
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