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The Trustees of Reservations
The Trustees of Reservations (also referred to as Trustees or The Trustees after a 2021 rebranding) is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit organization of its kind in the world and has 100,000 member households as of 2021. In addition to land stewardship, the organization is also active in conservation partnerships, community supported agriculture (CSA), environmental and conservation education, community preservation and development, and green building. The Trustees owns title to 120 properties on 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) in Massachusetts, all of which are open to the public. In addition, it holds 393 conservation restrictions to protect an additional 20,000 acres (8,100 ha). Properties include historic mansions, estates, and gardens; woodland preserves; waterfalls; mountain peaks; wetlands and riverways; coastal bluffs, beaches, and barrier islands; farmland and CSA projects; and archaeological sites.
The main office of the organization was formerly at Long Hill in Beverly. In 2017, a new headquarters was established in Boston. The Trustees Archives & Research Center (ARC) is located in Sharon. In June 2006, The Trustees earned gold-level recognition from the United States Green Building Council for its Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster.
Financial support for the organization comes from membership dues, annual contributions, property admission fees, special events, grants, and endowments. In 2014, after seven years as an affiliate, the Boston Natural Areas Network merged with the Trustees.
The Trustees of Reservations was proposed in 1890 when the New England periodical Garden and Forest published a letter by landscape architect Charles Eliot (protégé of Frederick Law Olmsted) entitled "The Waverly Oaks." Eliot's letter proposed the immediate preservation of "special bits of scenery" still remaining "within ten miles (16 km) of the State House which possess uncommon beauty and more than usual refreshing power." To this end, Eliot proposed that legislation be enacted to create a nonprofit corporation to hold land for the public to enjoy "just as a Public Library holds books and an Art Museum holds pictures."
In the spring of 1891, the Massachusetts Legislature established The Trustees of Public Reservations "for the purposes of acquiring, holding, maintaining and opening to the public beautiful and historic places within the Commonwealth." The act was signed into law by Governor William E. Russell on May 21, 1891. The word "Public" was dropped from the organization's name in 1954 to avoid confusion with government-owned land.
Virginia Wood in Stoneham was the first property acquired by The Trustees. This property was conveyed to the Metropolitan District Commission in 1923 and is now a part of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Waverly Oaks itself was also conveyed to the state by The Trustees and is part of the Beaver Brook Reservation, established in 1893.
In 1925, The Trustees joined with the Appalachian Mountain Club, Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England) to organize a conference on "The Needs and Uses of Open Spaces." This conference led to a 1929 report by the Governor's Committee on Needs and Uses of Open Spaces that emphasized the need to protect the state's rural character and countryside and the importance of identifying and describing the qualities and characteristics of specific sites that should be preserved. The report included a "Map of existing and proposed open spaces". Today, nearly every site listed in the report is protected by a government or nonprofit conservation agency.
The 1929 report included a proposal by Benton MacKaye, the creator of the Appalachian Trail, to build a "Bay Circuit Trail" encircling Boston from Plum Island to Duxbury. Work to build the Bay Circuit Trail began in 1990 when the Bay Circuit Alliance was created.
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The Trustees of Reservations
The Trustees of Reservations (also referred to as Trustees or The Trustees after a 2021 rebranding) is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit organization of its kind in the world and has 100,000 member households as of 2021. In addition to land stewardship, the organization is also active in conservation partnerships, community supported agriculture (CSA), environmental and conservation education, community preservation and development, and green building. The Trustees owns title to 120 properties on 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) in Massachusetts, all of which are open to the public. In addition, it holds 393 conservation restrictions to protect an additional 20,000 acres (8,100 ha). Properties include historic mansions, estates, and gardens; woodland preserves; waterfalls; mountain peaks; wetlands and riverways; coastal bluffs, beaches, and barrier islands; farmland and CSA projects; and archaeological sites.
The main office of the organization was formerly at Long Hill in Beverly. In 2017, a new headquarters was established in Boston. The Trustees Archives & Research Center (ARC) is located in Sharon. In June 2006, The Trustees earned gold-level recognition from the United States Green Building Council for its Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster.
Financial support for the organization comes from membership dues, annual contributions, property admission fees, special events, grants, and endowments. In 2014, after seven years as an affiliate, the Boston Natural Areas Network merged with the Trustees.
The Trustees of Reservations was proposed in 1890 when the New England periodical Garden and Forest published a letter by landscape architect Charles Eliot (protégé of Frederick Law Olmsted) entitled "The Waverly Oaks." Eliot's letter proposed the immediate preservation of "special bits of scenery" still remaining "within ten miles (16 km) of the State House which possess uncommon beauty and more than usual refreshing power." To this end, Eliot proposed that legislation be enacted to create a nonprofit corporation to hold land for the public to enjoy "just as a Public Library holds books and an Art Museum holds pictures."
In the spring of 1891, the Massachusetts Legislature established The Trustees of Public Reservations "for the purposes of acquiring, holding, maintaining and opening to the public beautiful and historic places within the Commonwealth." The act was signed into law by Governor William E. Russell on May 21, 1891. The word "Public" was dropped from the organization's name in 1954 to avoid confusion with government-owned land.
Virginia Wood in Stoneham was the first property acquired by The Trustees. This property was conveyed to the Metropolitan District Commission in 1923 and is now a part of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Waverly Oaks itself was also conveyed to the state by The Trustees and is part of the Beaver Brook Reservation, established in 1893.
In 1925, The Trustees joined with the Appalachian Mountain Club, Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England) to organize a conference on "The Needs and Uses of Open Spaces." This conference led to a 1929 report by the Governor's Committee on Needs and Uses of Open Spaces that emphasized the need to protect the state's rural character and countryside and the importance of identifying and describing the qualities and characteristics of specific sites that should be preserved. The report included a "Map of existing and proposed open spaces". Today, nearly every site listed in the report is protected by a government or nonprofit conservation agency.
The 1929 report included a proposal by Benton MacKaye, the creator of the Appalachian Trail, to build a "Bay Circuit Trail" encircling Boston from Plum Island to Duxbury. Work to build the Bay Circuit Trail began in 1990 when the Bay Circuit Alliance was created.