Whenever I tell people where I work the most common response is “What’s a land trust?” or “What does a land trust do exactly?” To be honest those questions are fair, because (and I’m going to let you in on a little secret here) before applying for my position here Joshua’s Trust, I had no idea what a land trust was. I had never even heard of one. While every land trust is different, in honor of my nearly one year of working for Joshua’s Trust, I am going to share what I have learned about what Joshua’s Trust is and what we do.
What does Joshua’s Trust do? The simple answer is, “Protect and preserve land, forever.” But now you’re asking, How? What land? Protecting from what? There are two types of land that Joshua’s Trust is responsible for protecting. Fee-owned and conservation easements. A fee-owned property is a property that Joshua’s Trust owns. A conservation easement is land that others own, but there are restrictions put on the land that Joshua’s Trust is responsible for enforcing. These restrictions can include no sub-dividing, limits on tree-cutting, and other restrictions that keep the land in its natural state.
Not only does Joshua’s Trust protect the land from humans, but also from invasive species like barberry. These invasive species are extremely difficult to eradicate but Joshua’s Trust works hard to stop the spread of these species to protect our native plants. We are only able to make a dent in this because of the incredible number of volunteers in the community. In non-pandemic times, we have trail crews scheduled for every weekend.
In addition to protecting and preserving, Joshua’s Trust is committed to making sure that the community has access to natural spaces on our properties. We have over 42 miles of trail on 36 different properties. While these trails are always open to the public, we often schedule guided walks on our properties to give you the history or scientific details of the land.
Joshua’s Trust is committed to making sure that the community has access to natural spaces on our properties.
I’m still learning every day that I’m in the office (or right now, out of the office). But one thing I know for sure, land trusts do more for our community than many of us realize. I know I didn’t.
Kailyn Murphy, Joshua’s Trust Development Administrator