Partnerships with Local Land Trusts

Farmland protection in Maine has grown significantly, thanks to the partnerships between landowners and local and regional land trusts.

To help facilitate more farmland protection projects, we often partner with local land trusts.

We offer a wide range of Technical Assistance and Support Services to other land trusts in Maine.  Our services range from informal review of proposed easement language to helping other groups resolve farmland monitoring issues to partnering on farmland protection projects to joint fundraising campaigns (where we help other land trusts secure funds for their farmland projects). We are particularly interested in using our Purchased Easement Program to protect farmland that is important to a local land trust, and where that partnering land trust will then hold the resulting easement. Get in touch with us if your land trust needs support with a farmland protection project or if you are a landowner interested in working with MFT and your local land trust.

We provide both Technical Assistance and two types of Farmland Protection Grants (one covering project transaction costs and one covering stewardship costs).

Project Transaction Grants

We award Project Transaction Grants to other land trusts. Grants are available up to $10,000,with the typical grant being $5,000. Grants will be awarded to cover transaction costs associated with projects that will permanently protect working farmland through easements (donated and purchased) and fee acquisition. Preference is given to donated easements.

Stewardship Matching Grants

We award Stewardship Matching Grants to other land trusts, where the landowner is not in a financial position to contribute at the needed level.  (The applicant is the landowner, though the recipient land trust usually helps complete the application.) Grants are available up to $5,000 or 50% of the land trust’s stewardship requirement, whichever is lower, on easements that will be donated by the applicant to the land trust. Grant funds are not available in instances where an easement is purchased.

Funds will be available on a reimbursement basis only and will be awarded upon project completion. Proposals are accepted on a rolling deadline. MFT reviews proposals at the close of every other month starting in February, and typically provides notification of awards within three weeks. The application provides complete instructions.

Completed applications can be emailed to abishop@mainefarmlandtrust.org  or mailed to  Maine Farmland Trust, Farmland Protection Grants Program, 97 Main St. Belfast, ME 04915.

Forever Farms celebrates protection of farmland across the state, as well as the relationships we build with land trusts and farmers.  Visit the Forever Farms page to see and listen to the stories of farmers who steward protected land.