In 1971—at the forefront of this movement—a group of Ann Arbor community leaders were concerned about the potential development of what is now the Bird Hills Nature Area, land adjacent to the Huron River. On May 10, 1971, they officially banded together to form Washtenaw Land Conservancy, the state’s first nonprofit organization dedicated to the voluntary protection of local land. Washtenaw Land Conservancy successfully acquired the parcels through a combination of gifts and donations, and fee simple acquisition, keeping Bird Hills in public trust with the City of Ann Arbor.

Washtenaw Land Conservancy’s hardworking, all-volunteer leaders learned quickly and set out to protect natural lands along the Huron River. One project at a time they carved out a new niche in land conservation: protecting important parcels by purchasing and transferring it to public agencies.

Their first project was protection of a Huron River frontage property in Scio Township downstream of Delhi Metropark. In cooperation with the Michigan chapter of The Nature Conservancy and the Washtenaw Audubon Society, the land was acquired and became the Osborne Mill Riverlands Preserve. In 1980, the Osborne Mill property was deeded to the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission, which owns and manages it today.

Subsequently, lands for Bandemer Park (1984), an addition to Bird Hills Park (1990), and Black Pond Woods Park (1991) were assembled and transferred to the City of Ann Arbor Parks Department.

In 1989, a second land conservancy was incorporated in Washtenaw County. The Potawatomi Land Trust (originally named Potawatomi Community Land Trust) formed with a primary goal of finding a permanent home for the Community Farm of Ann Arbor.

During the fifteen years the Community Farm project took to complete, Potawatomi Land Trust joined the first wave of land trusts using donated conservation easements to protect natural and agricultural lands. In 1995, with its first executive director Barry Lonik, Potawatomi Land Trust closed on its first donated conservation easement in Lyndon Township.

Later that year, Potawatomi Land Trust acquired its first nature preserve: Creekshead Nature Preserve in Salem Township, followed in 1999 by Beckwith Preserve in Stockbridge.

In 1998, Potawatomi Land Trust was also a leader in efforts to establish a Washtenaw County-wide millage to fund the purchase of development rights. Although this effort was initially unsuccessful, it raised awareness and opened doors for future land protection options.

In 1999, Washtenaw Land Conservancy and Potawatomi Land Trust merged to form the Washtenaw-Potawatomi Land Trust, which then changed its name to

Washtenaw Land Trust in 2001. The executive director of Potawatomi Land Trust, Barry Lonik, assumed the leadership position with Washtenaw Land Trust.

The fusion of similar missions led to new success, and was the springboard for pursuing farmland preservation projects. Thanks to the millage efforts of Potawatomi Land Trust two years prior, a new conservation strategy–preserving land through purchase of development rights–helped drive farmland protection in Washtenaw County.

Many landowners were assisted with applications to the State of Michigan Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program, and three were approved for funding; representing three townships (Scio, Lima, and York) and over 700 acres.
Washtenaw Land Trust took farmland preservation efforts one step further with the direct purchase of development rights on an Ann Arbor Township centennial farm in 2001. It was the first such project completed by a land trust in Michigan and included a major contribution from the township.

Two years later Washtenaw Land Trust received a grant from the Federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program to purchase a conservation easement on a farm in Freedom Township.

Then in 2004, Washtenaw Land Trust, after persevering through a fifteen-year-long effort, successfully closed on a purchased conservation easement on land used by the Community Farm of Ann Arbor, now settled in Lima Township.

All of these projects provided examples and leadership that helped set the stage for the successful millage-funded PDR programs in our area today.

In the early 2000s, Washtenaw Land Trust also increased its scope to include the land in and around the Waterloo Recreation Area of Jackson County. In 2003, Washtenaw Land Trust officially incorporated the Waterloo Land Conservancy Trust through an agreement that combined the resources of the Trust into a designated Washtenaw Land Trust fund.

In 2008, Legacy formally extended its service area to include Jackson County. This action was in response to increased landowner interest, and recognition that Jackson County possesses some of the world’s rarest landscapes, worthy of a concentrated land protection effort.

Nature doesn’t follow city or county lines. As local and county millages provided more funding, government agencies in Washtenaw County gained the ability to purchase more land for conservation on their own. This shift allowed Legacy to take on a stronger supporting role in Washtenaw County while expanding our work into neighboring Jackson County.

By 2007, Washtenaw Land Trust had also acquired four more public nature preserves: Sharon Hills (Manchester), Woodland (Ann Arbor), Reichert (Pinckney), and Lloyd and Mabel Johnson Preserves (Ann Arbor).

To reflect this broader outreach, we adopted a new name in 2009: Legacy Land Conservancy.

Outside pressures like the economic recession and a resurgence of land development forced Legacy to rethink land protection again in the 2010s. Independent land deals through donated conservation easements were no longer feasible for all landowners. As a result, Legacy relied more on collaborating with diverse partners, new and existing, to protect land through unique funding sources and cooperative land acquisition deals.

Legacy tapped into local, state, and federal programs–like the Natural Areas Preservation Program (NAPP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

Legacy also worked with partners like Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission (WCPARC), the Ann Arbor Greenbelt Program, Ducks Unlimited, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), and Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) to purchase land through conservation easements, assists, and co-holds.

In 2022, Legacy officially expanded its service area again. In our unwavering commitment to collaboration and innovation, Legacy branched out into Lenawee County assuming the Raisin Valley Land Trust’s conservation easements as the organization dissolved.

Uniquely positioned within the heart of the River Raisin Watershed, what happens on the land in Lenawee impacts drinking water, wildlife, agriculture, recreation, and tourism throughout the Great Lakes Basin. Protecting this land through local and regional collaborative partnerships is another important piece in Michigan’s land protection puzzle.