Natural Lands Trust
Encyclopedia
Media, Pennsylvania
The borough of Media is the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania and is located west of Philadelphia. Media was incorporated in 1850 at the same time that it was named the county seat. The population was 5,533 at the 2000 census. Its school district is the Rose Tree Media School District...
, is one of the oldest regional land conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
groups in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded by a group of avid bird-watchers in 1953, as the Philadelphia Conservationists, the Trust works in the suburban counties near Philadelphia to the Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...
of the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
to the Poconos
The Poconos
The Pocono Mountains is a region located in northeastern Pennsylvania, United States. The Poconos, located chiefly in Monroe and Pike counties , are an upland of the larger Allegheny Plateau...
.
The organization is a conservation group with expertise in land protection, conservation planning and land management. Its stated goal is to preserve natural assets from development in the Delaware Valley
Delaware Valley
The Delaware Valley is a term used to refer to the valley where the Delaware River flows, along with the surrounding communities. This includes the metropolitan area centered on the city of Philadelphia. Such educational institutions as Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township...
.
Philosophy
It works with local municipalities, developers and conservationists in five key areas.
- Land ProtectionConservation easementIn the United States, a conservation easement is an encumbrance — sometimes including a transfer of usage rights — which creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a qualified land...
- protecting land through direct acquisition (by donation or purchase) and with conservation easements. - Conservation Planning - guiding land use and preservation.
- Green GrowthGreen growthGreen Growth is a term to describe a path of economic growth which uses natural resources in a sustainable manner. It is used globally to provide an alternative concept to standard economic growth...
- helping municipalities protect natural resources as they grow. - Land ManagementLand managementLand management is the process of managing the use and development of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agriculture, reforestation, water resource management and eco-tourism projects.-See also:*Sustainable land management*Acreage...
- managing and restoring land to ensure long-term ecological health. - Nature Preserves – promoting the natural preserves in the region
The trust purchases most of the land it seeks to preserve, including a network of 30 nature preserves totaling nearly 21,000 acres. These preserves can be found in 12 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and includes many of the major ecosystems in the region. Much of the land has also been donated. It also purchases easements of privately held lands to prevent future development. It is not an advocacy group and does not get involved in specific issues with land developers.
Natural Lands Trust also holds more than 275 conservation easements and other restrictions on more than 19,000 acres of land, from private estates to former agricultural lands to historic properties.
See also
- Musser Scout ReservationMusser Scout ReservationMusser Scout Reservation is a Boy Scout camp located along the Unami Creek on over of Marlborough Township, Pennsylvania. The Reservation is made up of three distinct camps: Camp Delmont, Camp Hart, and Camp Garrison. The reservation is part of the largest contiguous forest in Southeastern...
- Perkiomen TrailPerkiomen TrailThe Perkiomen Trail is a long multi-use rail trail in Pennsylvania.It begins at the junction with the Schuylkill River Trail near Valley Forge NHP and ends in Green Lane Park. It follows the Perkiomen Creek and connects Lower Perkiomen Valley Park, Central Perkiomen Valley Park, and Green Lane Park...
- Resica Falls Scout ReservationResica Falls Scout ReservationResica Falls Scout Reservation is a camp in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania operated by the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The reservation is part of a conservation easement with the Natural Lands Trust....
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
- BiodiversityBiodiversityBiodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
- Global warmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
- EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
- Earth ScienceEarth scienceEarth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...
- Natural environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
- Natural landscapeNatural landscapeA natural landscape is a landscape that is unaffected by human activity. A natural landscape is intact when all living and nonliving elements are free to move and change. The nonliving elements distinguish a natural landscape from a wilderness. A wilderness includes areas within which natural...
- RecyclingRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...