Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle:
Your Partner in Rural Conservation

The Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle was formed in 1994 to provide landowners and concerned citizens with a powerful tool to safeguard farmland, open space, scenic views, parkland and historic landscapes for future generations. Our mission is to encourage people to preserve open space and rural landscapes in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.

A private, non-profit, tax-exempt organization, the Land Trust governed by a volunteer board of local residents from Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties. The Land Trust uses techniques that have been successful all over the country, providing landowners flexible and creative legal methods to protect land. The primary method is a perpetual conservation easement.

A conservation easement is a voluntary contract between a landowner and a land trust or government agency in which the owner places permanent restrictions on the future uses of some or all of their property to protect scenic, wildlife, water, or agricultural resources. The property owner still owns the land, and they can use it, sell it, or leave it to their heirs. Conservation easements also can protect rivers and streams — including drinking water downstream — when landowners choose to add these practices to their easement.