Community and conservation land trusts as unlikely partners? The case of Troy Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin

Abstract

Over the last two decades, private non-profit land trusts have gained increasing popularity among those who wish to conserve land or preserve access to affordable housing in the United States. Two types of land trusts—conservation trusts and community trusts—use many of the same tools, but for different purposes. Although both types of land trusts have collaborated with government agencies on a fairly regular basis, they have rarely worked with each other. In addition, questions have arisen concerning the appropriateness of private, non-profit land trusts engaging in de facto land-use planning. The Troy Gardens project, in Madison, Wisconsin, illustrates how two different private land trusts can successfully collaborate in land conservation and community-based development. In this project, the Madison Area Community Land Trust (MACLT), a community land trust, and the Urban Open Space Foundation (UOSF), a conservation land trust, have teamed together with several other organizations to preserve a 31-acre site in a city neighborhood for a combination of open space and affordable housing. This paper explores the strengths and challenges of the land trust collaboration, making suggestions for ways to increase the number of these types of collaborations in Wisconsin and around the United States.