Fifty years ago, a group of civil rights leaders in rural Georgia created the first community land trust in the United States. On this anniversary, Equity Trust celebrates New Communities’ innovation in community-based land ownership, which laid the foundation for the Community Land Trust (CLT) movement that followed.
In the 1960s in Albany, Georgia, as throughout the south, African …
Equity Trust is proud to be co-sponsoring Leah Penniman’s talk and workshop on Land Reparations, part of the Karuna’s Center’s workshop series, Engaging Peace: Reparation and its Forms Fall 2019/Winter 2020
Many people are aware of the deep and pervasive impact that the legacy of racial oppression in the United States has on the present day. The horrors of …
We are saddened by the loss of our good friend and long-serving board member, Monica McGloin (January 4, 1941 – October 2, 2019). Monica served on the board of Equity Trust since 1994, including as Board President, and on several committees, including the Governance Committee most recently. Previously, she also served on the board of the Institute for Community Economics. …
Rebecca Fletcher has left our staff after many years, to take a position with the Cooperative Fund of New England, where she will be responsible for lending to co-ops and other democratically-owned enterprises in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.
Rebecca joined the Equity Trust staff in 2005, and during her 14 years with Equity Trust she has served as Project Manager for our Farms …
On Halloween day last fall, Annie and Jeff Main of Good Humus Produce sat down with Equity Trust Executive Director Jim Oldham to place a specialized easement on their farm that will ensure it always remains a place where farmers can build a life growing food for their community, as the Mains have done.
This culminates a two-decade effort, inspired …
We are honored to have an article published in the Spring 2019 issue of Communities magazine on Community Land. In collaboration with Jack Hornickel, of project partner GrowNYC’s FARMroots program, we had the opportunity to tell the story of a collaborative project, still in progress as part of our Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program: Windfall Farms in Orange County, …
After five years, Equity Trust’s Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program is, with many strong partners, having a significant impact on farm preservation in this region of New York State. The program preserves working farms by ensuring that they:
Are permanently affordable for farmers; Grow food for the region on an ongoing basis; and Remain in the hands of farmers.It …
In July 2018, the “Working Farm Protection Act” was signed into law by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after being passed unanimously by the State Assembly and Senate. This law makes farm affordability protections of the sort pioneered by Equity Trust eligible for funding under New York State’s agricultural easement program.
The legislation was the result of advocacy by many …
Despite increasing interest in urban agriculture, little exists to help farmers navigate access to land in urban settings. Jo Rosen of Equity Trust and Kathy Ruhf of Land for Good co-authored a guide that addresses urban land access for commercial farmers. The guide looks at the unique challenges in locating urban properties, and dealing with urban ordinances, soil issues, and …
Johanna Rosen, Program Associate at Equity Trust, will help lead a training for farmers near Pittsburgh with the National Young Farmers Coalition in March 2018.
In response to demand from farmers in the area, Equity Trust worked in collaboration with the National Young Farmers Coalition, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, and other local partners to plan this full-day training.…
Looking for ways to help Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the hurricanes? Consider this appeal from our friends Don and Marnie McLean, farmers we are working with through our Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program to protect their farm, Thompson Finch Farm:
Dear Farmers and Friends of Farms,
We are making an appeal to all of you who know …
Looking for ways to help Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the hurricanes? Consider this appeal from our friends in the CLT movement:
We are writing to call your attention to a GoFundMe campaign that has been launched to help the Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust in San Juan, Puerto Rico in aiding people and repairing homes that were …
Jim Oldham, Executive Director of Equity Trust, and Program Associate Johanna Rosen will be attending and presenting at “Changing Lands, Changing Hands,” a national conference on farm and ranch access, tenure and transfer, hosted by Land For Good in cooperation with USDA, in Denver, Colorado, June 13-15, 2017.
Jim will participate in two sessions: the first, Shared Ownership, …
Affordable for Good: Building Inclusive Communities through Homes that Last
Habitat for Humanity International (2017)
Every other year, Habitat for Humanity International publishes a “shelter report” highlighting an innovation in policy or practice which Habitat’s 1500 affiliates in the USA are encouraged to consider for incorporation into their own programs. For its 2017 Shelter Report, Habitat enlisted the support of …
Jim Oldham, Executive Director of Equity Trust, will help lead a pair of training events in North Carolina with the National Young Farmers Coalition in March 2017.
FOR LAND TRUSTS
Mills River, North Carolina – March 8, 2017
This all-day training is intended for land trust staff and other regional conservation professionals who are involved in farmland …
Three farms that are partnering with Equity Trust’s Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program were among 28 farms awarded grants under New York State’s first-ever regionally targeted grant program for farmland protection. The $20 million in awards announced May 3, 2016 provides funding for preservation of agricultural lands, protecting more than 5,600 acres of active farmland in seven counties through permanent …
In 2013, Equity Trust launched the Secure Land for Urban Agriculture initiative within our Farms for Farmers Program to explore and address the issue of land tenure for urban agriculture. In the first phase of work, we interviewed and hosted a gathering of representatives from urban agriculture organizations and their allies to more fully understand their land tenure needs and …
This fall, as part of Equity Trust’s Secure Land for Urban Agriculture initiative, we are partnering with foundations and funder groups to promote dialogue about land and urban agriculture. We aim to raise awareness of the critical issue of land tenure to the viability of a wide range of farm- and garden-based programs related to health and nutrition, youth …
Equity Trust is pleased to report that two Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program projects recently closed, helping to protect the farmers’ continued access to their land as well as the affordability of the land through future transfers. Both projects involved partnership with Scenic Hudson and Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC).
In June 2015, we supported the acquisition of …
This summer, Equity Trust presented a workshop on “Building Equity in Farm Leasing” as part of UConn Extension’s Scaling Up Program for Beginning Farmers, held at the Wethersfield Historical Society on July 23, 2015.
Rebecca Fletcher and Johanna Rosen led participants in an exploration of the benefits of Equity Trust’s ground lease model of land tenure, which provides lessee …
Juanita Morrow Nelson (August 17, 1923 – March 9, 2015) was “an ardent pacifist, war tax resister, civil rights activist and supporter of local, organic agriculture.”[1] Juanita was a mentor to Equity Trust’s founder Chuck Matthei, and her deeply held values helped to shape Equity Trust as an organization. We wish to honor Juanita’s tremendous life.
May …
In What Would it Look Like to Win?, Rick Jacobus’ May 6, 2015 post on Rooflines, the Shelterforce Blog, he writes:
We should not have to pay for [affordable] access more than once. We should own the land... In every part of the country public and nonprofit agencies are investing in rental and ownership properties that will remain …
Jim Oldham, Executive Director of Equity Trust, will present at Community Food Funder’s Farmland Access & Preservation Working Group briefing in New York, Wednesday April 29, 2015.
This is a funder-only event with invited guests; however, the event will be livestreamed (contact adam@northstarfund.org for login info).
Jim will present along with Steve Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Scenic Hudson, and …
Jim Oldham, Executive Director of Equity Trust, will participate in two panel presentations at Farmland, Food and Livable Communities, American Farmland Trust’s National Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, October 20-22, 2014.
The first session will cover Land Access and Securing Affordable Farmland with Kathy Ruhf, Executive Director, Land for Good and Equity Trust Board member (moderator); Jim Oldham, Executive …
“The saving of the Stone Ridge Orchard is a miraculous feat of community support, vision, hope, funding, and good fortune,” according to Marie Doyon’s article, “Saving the Stone Ridge Orchard” in Country Wisdom News, a regional source for age-old and modern thoughts on food, the land and the home.
Read more about Equity Trust’s work with Stone …
Two innovative small farms and a nonprofit community development group repaid their Equity Trust loans this summer, with thanks to the Equity Trust lending community that made those loans possible.
Whippoorwill Farm was the first CSA farm on Martha’s Vineyard, almost twenty-five years ago. Now there are many! Lockhart Family Farm brought the CSA model to the “slow meat” movement…
As part of our Farms for Farmers program, Equity Trust is partnering with the National Young Farmers Coalition to offer training for land trusts focused on preserving affordable farms.
Access to farmland remains one of the biggest barriers for beginning farmers. Strategies such as conservation easements with an option to purchase at agricultural value (OPAV) and long-term ground leases that …
Announcing the launch of a new website put together by Greg Rosenberg and John Emmeus Davis: Roots & Branches: A Gardener’s Guide to the Origins and Evolution of the Community Land Trust. Found at www.cltroots.org, it features dozens of colorful graphics by Bonnie Acker, enlivening a digital archive of photographs, videos, interviews, and documents. This collection will grow richer …
Johanna Rosen, Program Associate at Equity Trust, participated in a panel discussion on Developing Models for Predictable Land Tenure at the “Turning Vacant Acres into Community Resources” Symposium put on by 596 Acres, April 22-23 at The New School, NY.
This session provided an overview of models that take communities past temporary access and land …
“One thing that makes Equity Trust radical is its focus not just on the active preservation of land, but on the challenge of evolving social values about what property ownership should look like.” This quote comes from Antonio Roman-Alcalá as he featured Equity Trust as one of “Five Groups Working to Help New Farmers Access Land” on Civil …
Jim Oldham, Director of Equity Trust, will participate in a panel discussion on Tools and Techniques for Farmland Conservation at the NYS Land Conservation Summit, April 10-11 in West Point, NY.
Details: http://nyslandsummit.org/.
This session will provide an overview of tools and techniques that can be used to protect active agricultural land. Panelists will present the challenges faced …
Jim Oldham, Director of Equity Trust, will be presenting at the February 22, 2014 Farming Our Future Conference in Columbia County, NY. Conference details: http://www.farmingourfuture.org/.
Jim will join Marissa Codey of the Columbia Land Conservancy to lead a workshop about farmland access strategies used by conservation organizations. Marissa will describe how the Conservancy helps make farmland available to farmers …
Stone Soup Community Center celebrated the near completion of the Green Rebuild and Collaborative Training Project with a Ribbon Cutting on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. 
The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) released a report entitled “Farmland Conservation 2.0: How Land Trusts Can Save America’s Working Farms.” The report outlines the ways that current farmland conservation practices are failing to keep land in production and farmland affordable to farmers. The report highlights innovative farmland conservation models and reinforces Equity Trust’s message of the importance …
The New London Homeless Hospitality Center (NLHHC) celebrated the opening of its new facility with an Open House and Dedication event on October 16, 2013. Equity Trust Director Jim Oldham attended along with Anne Scheibner, Paul Jakoboski, and Hannah Gant of the St. Francis House (our Francis Fund partners). About 300 people attended the celebration, including Connecticut Governor Malloy. 
Equity Trust has moved our office from Turners Falls, MA to Amherst, MA to be closer to where staff live and thus reduce our commute and carbon footprint. We are delighted have found a home in the beautiful Nacul Center for Ecological Architecture, a redesigned church just a few blocks from downtown Amherst, which houses an art gallery and several offices and studios. 
Stephen and Gloria Decatur of Live Power Community Farm have negotiated a long-sought opportunity to purchase ten abutting acres to add to their 40-acre farm. Live Power Farm was the first farm Equity Trust protected, back in 1995. At that time, Equity Trust worked closely with the farmers and their CSA members to craft and purchase an innovative agricultural conservation easement that pioneered both the use of resale restrictions to preserve affordability as well as farming requirements that ensure the land will always be used to produce healthy food for the region. Now... 
Dimond Hill Farm, a landmark property on the outskirts of Concord, New Hampshire, stewarded by Equity Trust, has just grown its land base by almost 25%.
A working farm since the 1700s, Dimond Hill was protected in 2006, through a partnership among Equity Trust, the Trust for Public Lands, Five Rivers Conservation Trust, the NH Preservation Alliance, and the City of Concord. Under the ownership structure designed to permanently protect the farm and make it affordable for future farmers, Equity Trust owns title to the farm, the Conservation Trust and the Preservation Alliance both hold easements on the property, and the land is currently farmed by sixth generation farmer Jane Presby under a lifetime agreement. 
Jeff and Annie Main, of Good Humus Produce in Capay, CA, have been featured in an article posted on the Farm Aid website. Read about the history of their farm and about their work with Equity Trust and with One Farm at a Time, an initiative of several California food co-ops to raise funds to preserve the sustainability of …
