Conservation Restriction Stewardship Overview

Author: Massachusetts Audubon Society; Wil Hastings, Alain Peteroy, Doug Bruce

Last Reviewed by MLTC: 1/26/2026.

Practical stewardship references that land trusts and conservation commissions can use to build or improve a conservation restriction (CR) stewardship program, including baseline documentation, monitoring and recordkeeping systems, landowner communications, stewardship funding, and responding to problems/violations.

Resources:

  1. Massachusetts Conservation Restriction Stewardship Manual: A Handbook for Land Trusts and Conservation Commissions (Massachusetts Audubon Society; 2024)
    Comprehensive handbook and reference manual for establishing and standardizing CR stewardship policies, procedures, and documentation systems.

Resource: Read the manual.

  1. Conservation Restriction (CR) & Conservation Areas Land Stewardship: Challenges and Opportunities (Wil Hastings, Alain Peteroy, Doug Bruce; October 2011)
    Training slide deck summarizing core stewardship tasks and common implementation issues; useful for orienting staff/boards/volunteers and as an outline for stewardship trainings.

Resource: mltc_stewardship_10.2011_1.pdf