Roots & Branches: A Gardener’s Guide to the Origins and Evolution of the Community Land Trust is a digital archive of historical materials tracing the origins and evolution of the community land trust (CLT), as both a model and a movement. The website was developed by John Emmeus Davis, Greg Rosenberg, and artist Bonnie Acker to preserve essential pieces of the CLT movement’s history and was launched in 2014. Over the next few years, this collection of historical documents, photographs, videos, and profiles grew larger and its focus broadened, encompassing CLT innovations in the USA and CLT developments in other countries. To enhance the permanence and relevance of the website, and to create a new platform for researching current CLT practices and exploring novel variations and applications of the CLT model, the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation was launched in 2018.
Though Roots & Branches is now in archival mode, it remains the most complete history of the beginnings of the CLT movement and much of the content is available on the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation’s website.
Equity Trust founder Chuck Matthei along with former Board members and staff Kirby White, David Abromowitz, Mary O’Hara, and Ellie Kastanopolis are prominently featured on the Roots & Branches site, including in the Hall of Fame. Equity Trust’s work is also highlighted in the section entitled “Branching Out” (under From Model to Movement).