Land Trusts:
The Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires
The CLT is a non-profit organization made up of members throughout the southern Berkshires. Its central principle is that homes, barns, fences, gardens, and all things done with or on the land should be owned by individuals, but the land itself is a limited community resource that should be owned by the community as a whole. The CLT makes possible the community ownership of land.
The Great Barrington Land Conservancy
The GBLC is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the community’s natural resources and distinctive character. Through promotion and fund-raising endeavors, GBLC enables the dedication of open space to agricultural, recreational and scenic purposes through acquisitions, conservation easements, and agricultural preservation restrictions. Projects of GBLC include the Great Barrington Housatonic RiverWalk, the Friends of the DuBois Homesite, and the Lake Mansfield Alliance.
The Sheffield Land Trust
The SLT is dedicated to protecting the land essential to Sheffield’s natural, scenic, agricultural and rural character through a program of stewardship and by working with landowners, farmers and other partners.
The Alford Land Trust
The Alford Land Trust is a nonprofit organization founded to protect significant natural, agricultural, and scenic resources; and to promote and encourage land stewardship for the benefit of the environment, the economy, and future generations.
Community Supported Agriculture:
A CSA is a way for the food-buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become “members” (or “shareholders,” or “subscribers”) of the CSA.
Egremont CSAs:
Local Resources:
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail ensuring that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow, and for centuries to come.
Berkshire Grown
Berkshire Grown envisions a community where healthy farms define the open landscape, where a wide diversity of fresh, seasonal food and flowers continue to be readily available to everyone, and where we celebrate our agricultural bounty by buying from our neighboring family farms and savoring their distinctive Berkshire harvest.
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
BNRC is a non-profit land conservation organization working throughout the Berkshires to preserve threatened lands. BNRC places special emphasis on protecting farms, forests, streams and ridgelines – the great landscape features that give us clean water, fresh air, local produce, healthy wildlife and outstanding recreational opportunities.
Greenagers
Greenagers works to inspire teens and young adults to develop deep connections to land, work, and community. They prepare youth for success in work and life by offering paid jobs and education in the areas of environmental conservation, sustainable farming, natural resource management, and vocational skills building. Their Farm and Food Justice Team stewards the almost 100 acre April Hill Farm in Egremont, MA (Greenagers’ base of operations) and works with local farmers, learning animal husbandry and organic agriculture. The also install front-yard gardens for area families, glean produce for local food service agencies, and promote food justice through community work.
Mass Audubon
Mass Audubon, the largest conservation organization in New England, works to protect the nature of Massachusetts for people and wildlife. They care for 33,000 acres of conservation land, provide educational programs for children and adults, and advocate for sound environmental policies at local, state, and federal levels.
The Nature Conservancy (MA Chapter)
The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
The Trustees of Reservation
The Trustees of Reservation preserves, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic and ecological value in Massachusetts. Their passion is to share with everyone the irreplaceable natural and cultural treasures they care for – 99 special places and 25,000 acres all around Massachusetts.