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Hilltown Land Trust

Dedicated to protecting the working lands, native habitats and rural beauty of the Hilltowns since 1986

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Conserving and stewarding land through relationships for the benefit of all in the Hilltowns of western Massachusetts since 1986.

  • DOGE Slashes TerraCorps Funding

    DOGE Slashes TerraCorps Funding

    Federal AmeriCorps funding cuts have hit our longstanding TerraCorps program.

    Read More »

A black bear walks towards the camera while looking up and to its left. Behind is a spring forest just coming into green.

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.

A bee visits a red clover flower, ringed in by ferns and other greenery.

Bee on red clover, Windsor MA.

Our New Strategic Plan

Download

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.

Learn More
Pond in the center of the property is still with trees and the sky reflecting. The foliage is colorful with some reds, yellows, oranges, and greens seen in the trees around the pond. At the edge of the pond you can see small grasses alluding to a different wetland habitat.

Explore

Connect with nature at 10 (and growing) public trail systems.

Get Outside
Two people, one standing and one seated in a wheelchair, lean towards each other as they touch and observe a piece of beaver pelt.

Get Involved

Volunteer, join a class, or give back to the hills you love.

Find Community

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.

A waterfall flows down a slope of terraced rocks, vibrant with green moss. Leaves cover the ground around the stream and trees lean out over it.

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.

Announcements

Mariel and Sally nail a Sensitive Wildlife Habitat sign to a tree.

DOGE Slashes TerraCorps Funding

May 9, 2025

Just hours after opening our Clary Hill trails to the public, our TerraCorps … [Read More...]

Volunteer Dave heaves a rock into place on a stone staircase in early spring woods.

Team Effort

April 21, 2025

How 29 volunteers made our new Clary Hill trails in Goshen worth visiting again … [Read More...]

A photo of a stream winding through a manicured golf course.

Rewilding Beaver Brook

April 21, 2025

Your support today helps us revive the Beaver Brook watershed, restore natural … [Read More...]

Events

  • May 27th, 2025

    Collaborative Forestry in the Village: Meet a Forester Woods Walk Collaborative Forestry in the Village: Meet a Forester Woods Walk

    “Forest resilience” is a big buzzword right now, especially in the face...

  • May 31st, 2025 - Jun 1st, 2025

    Chesterfield Gorge Ultra & 25k Chesterfield Gorge Ultra & 25k

    Join Hilltown Land Trust and Beast Coast Trail Running for the sixth-annual...

  • Jun 7th, 2025

    Mill River Resilience Fair Mill River Resilience Fair

    Come out, meet your neighbors, and learn what the Williamsburg community is...

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    © 2025 Hilltown Land Trust | Hilltown Land is a 501c3 nonprofit organization | Est. 1986