Pennsylvania Land Trust Census Reports

The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association’s biennial census found that, in Pennsylvania between January 2006 and December 2015, land trusts conserved 223,000 acres of land, an average of 61 acres per day. In 2014 and '15 alone, land trusts protected 59 square miles of land, an area larger than Pittsburgh.

The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association’s biennial census found that, in Pennsylvania between January 2008 and December 2017, land trusts increased total land they have conserved by 36% (189,000 acres)—an average of 52 acres per day.

The 2019 biennial census found that between 2010 and 2019, land trusts in Pennsylvania expanded the lands they have conserved by 34%, conserved 201,800 acres of land (315 sq. mi. - roughly the size of Lehigh County), and on average, conserved 55 acres every day.

As of the beginning of 2022, land trusts have conserved 817,178 acres, or 1,277 square miles, in Pennsylvania, more land than the area of Cumberland and Dauphin Counties combined. From 2012-2021 208,026 acres were conserved by Pennsylvania land trusts, equivalent to 325 square miles and 57 acres per day.

Land trusts are conserving 51 acres per day on average in Pennsylvania--18,763 acres per year. Sixty-eight land trusts hold conservation easements. Sixty-nine own land and 46 have conveyed land to state and local governments for parks and other conservation uses.