ABSTRACT
Creation of regional coalitions of land trusts may be needed to pool expertise and share resources. Entities such as the Connecticut Land Trust Service Bureau and the New York Land Trust Network will become more important as local land trusts deal with increasingly complex issues. The US Fish and Wildlife Service works cooperatively with several nonprofit organizations in its land acquisition programs; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts works closely with local land trusts and municipalities to implement its statewide river protection program; locally, many small land trusts work with their planning boards to ensure protection of significant resources. The leap to a broader view of planning for biological resources is beginning, largely in response to broad public concern with retaining greater species diversity worldwide. Although most experts believe the public must be educated to the importance of incorporating biological resources in planning efforts, many segments of the public are ahead of planners, and biologists in grasping the importance of the need.
