Keeping our most valuable landscapes intact protects water and air quality, agricultural resources, open space, plant and wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation opportunities, and contributes to a better quality of life in our community. Help us make sure these landscapes are not lost forever.
What does HALT do?
The Hopkinton Area Land Trust is responsible for managing conservation land, but doesn’t buy land. Land is either donated to HALT by a landowner, or the landowner grants HALT a Conservation Restriction (an easement) on their land but retains possession of it. In both cases, HALT is responsible for insuring the land retains its conservation value, and generally makes decisions about what can be done with the land. Land that HALT owns is always open to the public for passive recreation, and HALT generally only accepts land under a Conservation Restriction with that same proviso. HALT’s management of a property is similar whether HALT owns the land or holds a Conservation Restriction on it.
HALT monitors its properties regularly, at least annually, according to the size and restrictions of each property, and keeps documentation (such as reports, updated photographs and maps) of each monitoring activity. This monitoring is usually performed by land stewards—volunteers interested in preserving the property’s conservation value. Often these stewards are nearby residents who love the outdoors and want to preserve the character of their neighborhood.
HALT is one of thousands of land trusts in the U.S. that do similar work protecting conservation land. It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and member of the Land Trust Alliance.