Mission Statement
MISSION: The Land Trust of Danbury is a nonprofit conservation organization with the sole mission of protecting Danbury's natural areas and quality of life. All of our activities relate to that mission. Accordingly: We seek to permanently protect properties with significant conservation value; we educate the general public and, in particular, landowners on the extraordinary value of conservation, including substantial tax benefits. Also, we advise landowners of alternative conservation strategies; and we manage our existing properties - including clearing of invasive exotics, maintaining existing trails and establishing new trails.
Description
The land trust was incorporated in 1971 by a group of concerned residents. It assumed Danbury's original name, Swampfield - a name that lasted only a few years for the city, until the Connecticut Colony Court decided in 1687 that it should be Danbury. The initial land donated to the land trust in the early 1970s was in the Long Ridge Road area. To this day, the largest number of acres owned by the land trust lie in this area.
Over the years, the number of acres has grown to 217. During this period, the land trust has led many educational programs - including bird, wildflower and other nature walks and various presentations, often featuring slides and live animals.
One of the most important open space initiatives ever undertaken in the city - our 2001-2004 joint project with the Conservation Commission to identify, map and prioritize all open space - received the Successful Partnership Award in 2005 from the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
The Land Trust of Danbury strongly supports other Danbury open space initiatives. As part of our service, we play a very active role on the Ives Trail and Greenway task force, and we have adopted the 3-mile scenic Long Ridge Road for regular monitoring and cleanup.
The land trust is a member of the Land Trust Alliance, the national organization of land trusts, and The Nature Conservancy, the international land conservancy organization.
