What We Do

The Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) assists Northern California landowners and public agencies in the voluntary protection of land and other natural resources. We carry out our mission by negotiating conservation easements and facilitating land exchanges and land acquisitions.

A large part of our job is pursuing and securing properties with high conservation value (e.g., cultural, ecological, agricultural and aesthetic), either with conservation easements or through fee title acquisition. This process typically begins with a phone call from an interested landowner; however, if NCRLT hears of a landowner or municipality whose is interested in setting aside land for conservation reasons, we will initiate contact as well.

Once we have confirmed genuine interest on the part of the landowner, our Lands Committee evaluates the property based on criteria including, but not limited to, available funding, project size and contiguity, manageability, surrounding land use, and landowner relations. After a property has been evaluated it is ranked, so we can better prioritize expenditure of our resources.

Our conservation priorities in Butte, Glenn and Tehama counties include irrigated farmland, grasslands and oak savannah used for ranching, “non-working” landscapes, land needing protection for mitigation purposes and forestland at the higher elevations. In an effort to better meet these conservation needs, NCRLT has developed four well-defined conservation programs including the Farmland Protection Program, Rangeland Protection Program, Wildland Protection Program and Land Mitigation Program.

NCRLT also provides fee services that assist in the successful implementation of federal, state and local regulations created to insure that our natural heritage is protected for future generations. The NCRLT provides these services through:

• Offering landowners a variety of options for preserving their lands while retaining private ownership and control. Significant savings on income and estate taxes are often possible.
• Holding conservation easements for mitigation projects and accepting stewardship contracts.
• Providing a variety of professional and consulting services to developers and local municipalities and governments including open space planning, acquisition and management of open space properties, drafting, holding and monitoring of conservation easements, and management and monitoring of mitigation properties.
• Providing professional stewardship and monitoring services for sensitive natural areas. Whether it is land held by others, or on lands we hold in conservation easement, we can identify the critical ecological processes and components on a given site and implement adaptive management practices to meet protection goals.

Please see our Statement of Qualifications for more information