Conserving and stewarding land through relationships for the benefit of all in the Hilltowns of western Massachusetts since 1986.
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Ecologist Accelerates Conservation of 130 Magical Acres in Chesterfield
Retired Siena College ecology professor Doug Fraser changed his mind about willing his 130 Chesterfield acres to Hilltown Land Trust. Now, he wants to donate the land to HLT within his lifetime.
Our Mission
Hilltown Land Trust conserves and stewards land through strong relationships to ensure clean water, wildlife habitat, climate resilience, recreational opportunities, and healthy farmland for the benefit of all.
Black bear on HLT wildlife camera, 2023.
Our Vision
The Hilltowns are a place where abundant conserved, well-stewarded, and accessible land supports ecologically, socially, and economically vibrant communities for all people.
Bee on red clover.
2024 Strategic Plan
Download our strategic plan to learn more about our visions for vibrant, inclusive land conservation in the Hilltowns.
Conserve
Learn about options for conserving your land with HLT.
Explore
Connect with nature at 10 (and growing) public trail systems.
Get Involved
Volunteer, join a class, or give back to the hills you love.
Our Values
Community
The benefits of conserving land stretch beyond just our geographic service area. Our HLT community includes partners, donors, visitors, volunteers, and supporters from many places and walks of life. By welcoming and embracing diverse opinions and identities, our Hilltown Land Trust community and the land we care for will have greater impact both within our service area and beyond.
Sustainability
We believe that the health of the land, fauna and flora, air and water, people and communities, require care over the long term. Our mission and actions must be anchored in the truths of the past, the realities of today, and be focused on long range outcomes.
Collaboration
We seek to build lasting partnerships through listening and sustained engagement. We pool our resources with others to advance shared goals. By leveraging our collective strengths and expertise, we will accomplish more than we would on our own.
Accountability
We understand that honesty and transparency are essential to earning the trust of our donors, members, volunteers, partners, and the communities we serve. Additionally, as a land conservation organization, we hold ourselves accountable to telling a more complete history of the land we conserve and steward.
Belonging
All people benefit from the preservation of the natural world and have a right to be heard and included in issues that affect their lives and those of future generations. We seek to reduce historical and present-day barriers to accessing our natural world.
Climate Change
We believe that climate change presents real dangers to our world and action to address it is essential. Conservation and stewardship play a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of climate disruption.
Our History
Hilltown Land Trust was founded in 1986 as an all-volunteer land trust, and has grown into a small staffed organization. We have conserved over 5,000 acres of land on over 45 properties in our 13-town region in rural western Massachusetts.
The Waterfall Trail at Two Mamas Farm.
Our service area includes 13 rural towns: Ashfield, Chester, Chesterfield, Conway, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Windsor, and Worthington. Since our founding in 1986, we have conserved and continue to steward over 5,000 acres of land.
We have been an affiliate organization of The Trustees since 2009. The partnership allows HLT to focus on the core of our mission by giving us administrative support from a larger organization committed to this region.
Visualize the region we serve with Hilltown Land Trust’s service area map.
