One thing we have all learned from this past year and more is that so many people find comfort in the out-of-doors. With this new light shining on LOCAL CONSERVED LAND for local residents, we hope that you will consider joining us as a member or making a one-time donation to SVLT. Thank you!
Welcome to the Saco Valley Land Trust!
We are a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving land for the future of the lower Saco Valley, including the towns of Saco, Biddeford, Buxton, and Old Orchard Beach. With the help of our supporting members, dedicated volunteers, and grant programs that support conservation, Saco Valley Land Trust has now protected over 1,200 acres of land for wildlife, water quality, and a sustainable way of life. We care for the lands we have conserved, provide recreation access, help raise awareness of the importance of conservation, and are always looking for other properties that could be saved from development. Sometimes land comes to us through donation, and at other times the land trust is able to raise money for an important purchase. Our donating members provide the means to keep our operation running and not miss these opportunities to protect land for the future.
The Saco Valley Land Trust Mission:
“to protect for future generations land of agricultural/silvicultural, recreational, or biological significance and to promote a more general understanding of the value of such conservation efforts”
Here at our website you can explore information about our properties, learn about our latest land conservation projects, catch up with land trust happenings by reading our newsletters, and most importantly, find out how you can help support the mission of the land trust. For up-to-the minute news and event announcements, please also check our Facebook page. Meetings of the board are open to public attendance (with Covid precautions). Please contact us at sacovalleymaine@gmail.com for information about attending a meeting.
How Does the Land Trust Work?
We are a federal 501c(3) nonprofit, chartered to hold conservation easements and own land. We were founded in 1988 by a small group of concerned citizens who realized that the pace of development would threaten the integrity of our natural systems in and around the Saco Valley if nothing was done to keep important parts of our ecosystems safe. Today, we have conserved many forests, farms, wetlands, shorelines, and streams, but the work is far from finished. We continue every year to work toward our mission, saving land for the future, caring for what has been conserved, and teaching about the need for land preservation.
We are a volunteer-run organization with a highly involved Board of Directors and a core group of volunteers from the community. We always welcome new volunteers to become involved and participate in the operations of the land trust – even eventually joining the Board. The land trust is going to be around for a long, long time. we need people that want to carry on the work of the land trust both now and into the future!
We are also supported by our donating membership – an essential part of any land trust’s survival. If you believe in our mission and wish to help, please consider becoming a member at whatever level you are able. Businesses may also become sustaining business members, helping their community by partnering with us to conserve land. Legacy donations are a great benefit to the land trust as well, when a generous individual leaves a portion of their estate to the land trust in their will. In addition to memberships and monetary donations, we receive help from professionals who work pro-bono or for reduced fees including those skilled in law, real estate, surveying, tech, social media and more. If you would like to help the land trust’s mission by offering discount services or professional advice, please reach out to us. Learn more about the many ways to help our work on the “How You Can Help” page.
Finally, we are often able to pursue larger projects thanks to public and private grant funding. We apply to state and federal programs that support conservation projects like land acquisitions, wetland restoration, and trail building. Private foundations also support our work in various ways. For instance, the Davis Conservation Foundation recently granted us $5,000 to pursue improvements to the organization’s structure, and to hold more events for the public. We are grateful for their support as well as for other grants we have received over the years to help us pursue our mission.
To contact the land trust with any questions or offers to get involved, please reach out to sacovalleymaine@gmail.com. Because we are volunteer-run, we do not have a staffed office at this time, and email is much preferred. Thank you!
Sustaining Business Members
Saco Valley Land Trust sincerely thanks the Businesses that show their support for conservation and their community by becoming sustaining members. Here are the sustaining business members of 2021. Thank you!
Yottaram, LLC – based in Buxton
