Most land trusts are private, nonprofit organizations operating at local, state, or regional levels that are directly involved in protecting land for its conservation values.  Land trusts are not "trusts" in the legal sense.  They may also be called "conservancies" or other descriptive names.

Land trusts are distinguished by their direct involvement in land transactions or management.  This involvement often takes the form of a donation to the land trust of a conservation easement (a permanent, binding agreement that restricts the use of a parcel of land to protect its natural resources).  Land trusts can also purchase or accept donations of land, or manage land owned by others.  They also advise landowners on how to preserve their land.  Land trustsmay focus their efforts in a community, in a region, or on a particular type of resource.  The Palouse Land Trust focuses its efforts in Latah County, Idaho, Whitman County, Washington, and adjacent counties.

Land Trusts have many advantages as a vehicle for protecting land.  Their nonprofit status brings them a variety of tax benefits.  Donations to land trusts may qualify donors for income, estate, or gift tax savings.  For example, when you own land, you also "own" many rights associated with it, such as the right to harvest timber, build structures, and so on.  When you donate a conservation easement to a land trust, you permanently give up some of those rights.  For example, you might give up the right to build additional residences, while retaining the right to grow crops.  Future owners are bound by the easement's terms.  If you donate a conservation easement that meets federal tax code requirements, the value of the easement can be treated as a charitable gift and deducted from your income tax.

Another advantage of land trusts is that, as private organizations, they can be more flexible and creative and can generally act more quickly than government agencies, since they are not as restrained by politics and procedures.  Land trust representatives can negotiate with landowners confidentially, and quickly.

A land trust assumes the responsibility and legal right to enforce an easement.  If a future owner or someone else violates the easement - perhaps by erecting a building which the easement does not allow - the land trust will work to have the violation corrected.  As a result, the land trust usually asks for a donation from the easement donor to offset the cost of future stewardship expenses. Conservation easements have become an important mechanism to tailor conservation to the desires of the landowner.  Over 4,000 parcels protecting more than 1.6 million acres are established across the U.S.  The nation's 1,100 local and regional land trusts hold about one half of this total.  The Palouse Land Trust is pleased to be part of this effort.