How Land Conservation Contributes to Sustainable Prosperity

Open space increases property values, keeps communities cooler in summer, supports cleaner air and water, preserves habitats for wildlife, and provides opportunities for exercise and relaxation. Hear how local and global land trusts are preserving land for the benefit of us all with Jim Levitt, co-founder and former director of the International Land Conservation Network at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and former director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest. He has served as a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Highstead Foundation in Redding CT. This program is co-sponsored by the New Canaan Land Trust. 

Jim Levitt is the editor and a lead author of Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats and Opportunities;  From Walden to Wall Street: Frontiers of Conservation Finance;  Conservation Capital in the Americas: Exemplary Conservation Finance Initiatives;  Conservation Catalysts: The Academy as Nature’s Agent; and From the Ground Up: How Land Trusts and Conservancies are Providing Solutions to Climate Change. A graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Management, Levitt was named by the Yale School of Management as a Donaldson Fellow, an honor given to alumni for career achievements that "exemplify the mission of the School." Jim and his family love to spend time on their forested land in Maine, most of which is permanently protected with a conservation easement.