Land Conservation Conference Archive

2024

Saturday, March 23 in-person at UMass Amherst Campus Center, with complimentary field trip options around the state on Fridays, April 26 and May 17.

Schedule (PDF)   |   Descriptions (PDF)   |   Exhibitors (PDF)

Conference page, including sponsors and session collateral, if any (tap any +, and the accordion will drop to reveal any links). Nine sessions were videotaped, and can be found by searching for "videotaped", then tap the + sign and see the recording link in the content box.

2023

Saturday, March 25, with field trip options on Friday, April 28
Schedule (PDF)  |  Descriptions (PDF)  |  Exhibitors (PDF)
Conference page, including sponsors and session collateral, if any (tap any green bar, and the accordion will drop to reveal any links)

2022

March 23 - 25, 2022 (Thursday - Saturday), virtual with in-person field trip options
Schedule (PDF)  |  Descriptions (PDF)

This year's theme was "Communicating Conservation: Building the Message for the 21st Century", featuring a Friday morning keynote address by Reverend Mariama White-Hammond. Rev. White-Hammond (read bio) is Chief of Energy, Environment and Open Spaces for the City of Boston, overseeing policy and programs on energy, climate change, sustainability, historic preservation and open space. She is also a pastor, advocate, facilitator, and farmer. The title of Rev. White-Hammond's address was "Reconsidering Conservation - Building an Inclusive Message for the 21st Century".

 

A big Thank You! to our generous sponsors!

Lead

Patron

2021

hosts

Friday & Saturday, March 19 & 20, 2021
2021 Massachusetts & Rhode Island
Land Conservation Conference

“Building a Stronger Land Movement through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”

A selection of most-viewed sessions from the conference is available below.
CAVEAT: please accept our apologies for any thumbnail images of the recordings. They are auto-generated by Google and cannot be overwritten.

Keynote speaker Carolyn Finney, author of Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors, and a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College
Plenary Panel: Programs and Partnerships to Welcome Diverse Communities
The Intersection of Conservation and Indigenous Peoples' Access to Land 
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Adapting to Sea Level Rise
All Person Trails
Anatomy of a Real Estate Transaction
Attorneys Panel
Building Climate Action Ambassadors Through Community Based Land Trusts
Building Engagement with Social Media & Email Campaigns
Building a Major Donor Program from the Ground Up
Conservation Organizations Partnering to Address Affordable Housing Needs
Conservation Restrictions: Avoiding Current Red Flags
Edible, Medicinal and Other Culturally-Significant Plants
Environmental Justice in a Climate Changing World
Protecting Natural Climate Solutions
White-Tailed Deer and the Future of Our Forests

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Conference schedule
Detailed session descriptions
Tips for attending the virtual conference (PDF)

A huge thank you to our generous 2021 sponsors!

Lead

Patron

Partner

The Community Preservation Coalition at The Trust for Public Land
The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts
Durand & Anastas
Franklin Land Trust
Horsley Witten Group
Kestrel Land Trust
Landscape - Land Conservation Software
Marcum LLP
Narragansett Bay Research Reserve
Rhode Island Sea Grant
Save The Bay
The Trust for Public Land
Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council

2020

Although the in-person conference planned for March 28 was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we were able to provide nine of the originally planned sessions via a Zoom webinar series that reached a live audience of 600 participants, plus more than 400 others who received session recordings afterwards. 

View the presentations from these sessions, along with materials from additional conference workshops.
View the sessions that were offered.

A huge thank you to our generous 2020 sponsors!

Benefactors

Conservators

2019

Enhancing Community Through The Land

Conference program (final)--detailed program information and workshop room locations
Conference brochure--explore the program and find more information on registration.
Workshop descriptions--summaries of each workshop offered at the conference.
Workshop materials are now available for many sessions. Click here to access them.
     Speakers, please upload your materials here.
Speaker Bios--learn more about the speakers who are making this conference possible.
Attendee List--list of those whose joined us at the conference in March.

A Tremendous Thanks to Our 2019 Conference Sponsors!

Benefactor Level

The Trustees of Reservations
Mass Audubon

Conservator Level

A.D. Makepeace Company
Fields Pond Foundation
Land Trust Alliance
The Nature Conservancy
The Trust for Public Land

Steward Level

Beals and Thomas, Inc.
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Durand & Anastas
Epsilon Associates, Inc.
Essex County Greenbelt
Franklin Land Trust
Kestrel  Land Trust
LandVest, Inc.
Nantucket Conservation Foundation
New England Forestry Foundation
Open Space Institute
Sasaki
Sudbury Valley Trustees
The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts
The Conservation Fund
Wildlands Trust
Wilkinson Ecological Design, Inc.
Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation

Keynote Address: Gina McCarthy, Former U.S. EPA Administrator & Director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

For more information on Ms. McCarthy's efforts, click here.

2018

Leading Locally in a Changing World

The conference was a great success with about 450 attendees! Our thanks to all who attended, and all who made it possible by presenting workshops, volunteering, sponsoring, and exhibiting. Our special thanks to the Jim Catterton Memorial Fund and the Fields Pond Foundation for providing student scholarships.

The keynote speaker was Rand Wentworth, Louis Bacon Senior Fellow in Environmental Leadership at Harvard University and President Emeritus of the Land Trust Alliance. Read more about Rand here.

Conference Information:

Brochure

Registration Form

Speaker Biographies

Conference Day Program

Workshop Materials

Exhibitor List

Map of Worcester Tech High School

Attendees

Conference Evaluation

Upload Workshop presentations or handouts here.

We are very grateful for the generosity of our sponsors!

Benefactor Level:

The Trustees   
Mass Audubon

Conservator Level:

A.D. Makepeace Company
American Planning Association, MA Chapter
Fields Pond Foundation
The Nature Conservancy  
The Trust for Public Land 

Steward Level:

Beals & Thomas 
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Durand & Anastas Environnmental Strategies
Epsilon Associates, Inc.
Essex County Greenbelt
Horsley Witten Group
Franklin Land Trust
Kestrel Land Trust
LandVest
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust
Nantucket Conservation Foundation
New England Forestry Foundation
Open Space Institute
Sudbury Valley Trustees
The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts
The Conservation Fund
Wildlands Trust

2017

Scaling Up: Meeting New Challenges 

The conference was the largest yet with over 570 attendees! Our thanks to all who attended, and all who made it possible by presenting workshops, volunteering, sponsoring, and exhibiting. MassLand was pleased to welcome Edward Osborne Wilson, usually cited as E. O. Wilson, an American biologist, researcher, theorist, naturalist and author.

View the plenary and A Conversation with E. O. Wilson here.
View the 2017 Conference brochure here.

2016

Managing for Success

The conference was a great success with 520 attendees! Thank you to our sponsors, our speakers, our volunteers — all who contributed to making this event such a success!

Watch the Plenary Session here; Plenary Speakers included Marylynn Gentry, Mass Land Trust Coalition, Executive Director, Andrew Bowman, Land Trust Alliance, President, and Dr. M. Sanjayan, "How Nature Can Save Us", Conservation International, Executive Vice President, Senior Scientist.

View the 2016 conference brochure here.

2015

Gaining Ground: Conserving Our Common Wealth

The conference was a great success with 500 attendees! Thank you to our sponsors, our speakers, our volunteers — all who contributed to making this event such a success!

Plenary: U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern as keynote speaker; and MA Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Matthew Beaton, as speaker.

View the 2015 conference brochure here.

2014

Healthy Land – Healthy Communities

The conference was a great success with 550 attendees! Dr. Eric Chivian delivered a rousing keynote address inspiring to all.

View the 2014 conference brochure here.