Protecting and Preserving Natural Spaces
Pines & Prairies Land Trust is dedicated to conserving and safeguarding vital natural areas in our community.
Our Mission:
To protect open space through land conservation, stewardship and community engagement.
Our Vision:
Protecting Land.
Connecting People to Land.
Inspiring a Land Legacy.
Pines and Prairies Land Trust (PPLT) was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in February 2001. The founding members created the land trust as a means to protect land in their communities.
Besides direct land conservation, PPLT also hosts nature lessons, and workshops, participates in conferences and local environmental events and provides speakers for civic and business groups.
We work tirelessly to ensure our open spaces and wild places remain intact for future generations to enjoy.
Land Conservation
Pines and Prairies Land Trust helps private landowners protect their land from unwanted fragmentation. We provide viable economic alternatives to selling family lands. Current and future generations benefit from the clean water and air, wildlife habitat, scenery, agricultural practices and rural feel of open space that conserved land provides. The landowner is able to keep their land legacy intact in perpetuity.
Land trusts use a number of land conservation tools, some of which may provide tax benefits for landowners. PPLT can accept donations of development rights on private lands through conservation easements, and in some cases, purchase them using grants.
Conservation easements are deed restrictions where the type and intensity of development is defined and the conservation values of the land are protected. These easements “run with the deed” to the property forever, but the land can still be sold or given to heirs. PPLT's role is to defend these conservation easements and protect the private landowner’s wishes for their land.
Our Service Area and Protected lands
PPLT has evolved to protect natural and cultural resources through education and the preservation of open space in the Central Texas counties of Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette, Lee, Leon, Milam, Robertson and Travis Counties. We hold conservation agreements and own property in the eight county region we serve.
Nature Preserve Management
We currently hold over 1000 acres that we manage as preserves. All three preserves are used for public benefit, providing opportunities for education and outdoor recreation, open space, air, water and wildlife habitat protection and sustainable agricultural practices.
education
Pines and Prairies Land Trust connects landowners to governmental agencies and private organizations offering technical and financial support for restoring and managing wildlife habitat, land management, conservation practices, etc.
Please contact us if you would like PPLT to speak at your organization’s meeting. We may also be able to help you find speakers on related conservation topics.
We also distribute educational materials and lead workshops for the public.
Pines and Prairies Land Trust hosts free nature lessons for school-aged children at the Bastrop County Lost Pines Nature Trails, adjacent to the Colorado River Refuge. These lessons are held in the spring and fall. Classes usually start with a group lesson and end with a hike or discovery activity. For more info, contact us at info@pplt.org.
