The West Virginia Land Trust is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to protecting West Virginia’s natural lands, scenic areas, water quality, and recreational access forever. Since 1994, the organization has permanently protected more than 20,000 acres of land statewide.
Nationally Accredited
WVLT is a member of the Land Trust Alliance and is nationally accredited with the National Land Trust Accreditation Commission. According to the commission, accreditation is a mark of distinction showing that a land trust meets high
standards for conservation and is worthy of the public trust.
WVLT’s mission is to protect land with significant conservation values through the use of conservation easements and real estate acquisitions, and by working with a statewide network of partners to build a passionate land conservation movement in the state.
When evaluating a project, WVLT considers conservation values such as land uses, location, size, and environmental features. The Land Trust works with landowners to determine the best conservation approach for each property.
West Virginia’s identity is rooted in the outdoors and its resources. The Land Trust is proud to partner with people who want to protect and perpetuate that legacy and identity. The organization seeks projects with meaningful and lasting benefits that reflect the needs of West Virginia, such as protecting drinking water sources, creating recreational opportunities, conserving wildlife habitat, promoting local food production, preserving historic and cultural sites, engaging youth and community groups, and supporting scientific research.
WVLT’s mission directs our organization to protect lands and waters having a wide range of conservation values. Our goal is to protect special places throughout West Virginia with an emphasis on community impact and public benefit. WVLT’s financial resources and capacity for land protection projects require us to be selective about our annual project load. We focus our attention on places and projects that will support human communities with land and water that provides ecological, social, and economic benefits. We strive to bolster available resources and project success through partnerships with communities, government agencies, and other organizations with mutual goals and shared expertise.