Freshwater Land Trust

Land Trust recognition

  • The Governor's Conservation Organization of the Year in 2003
  • Outstanding Charitable Organization by the Alabama Association of Fundraising Professionials in 2005

The Land Trust is a member of the Land Trust Alliance. We have adopted the 2004 Land Trust standards and practices as our guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust which is run legally, ethically, and in the public interest and conducts a sound program of land transactions and stewardship.

The Freshwater Land Trust acquires, conserves, and connects open spaces that are critical for the protection of rivers and streams and provide recreational opportunities for the community. The Freshwater Land Trust's mission is the acquisition and stewardship of lands that enhance water quality and preserve open space.

Within the problem lies the solution.

In 1996, Jefferson County had a problem. The Environmental Protection Agency found the County in violation of the Clean Water Act. The County was fined $30 million, and it was decided that those fines would be used to purchase streamside land in the Cahaba and Black Warrior watersheds for the preservation of open space and the enhancement of water quality. The Freshwater Land Trust—then called the Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust—was then established to implement the Jefferson County Greenways Program.

Greenways along rivers and streams act like filters. When water runs off of a parking lot, construction site, or a residential neighborhood it picks up silt, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and toxins such as oil and antifreeze. The trees and undergrowth along the riverbank filter these pollutants before they can reach the water.

The greenways also protect long stretches of pristine nature. Which helps to protect biological diversity within stream corridors.

One part of the Land Trust mandate ensures that up to 10 percent of the land owned and managed in which the greenways program can be developed as canoe launches, trails or parks.

$30 million is only a start

The Freshwater Land Trust prides ourselved on our non-advocacy, businesslike approach to our conservation efforts. We work with governments, corporations and private landowners to find win-win solutions that protect the land and the interests of the landowner and allow our community to grow economically.

Our ambitions run well beyond our original funding. We have leveraged our funding to generate over $15 million in additional contributions through discounted land purchases, federal grants, and cash gifts. And while our original mandate was restricted to land along our rivers and streams, we will work to preserve critical open spaces throughout the county. In 1924, the nationally renowned landscape architecture firm of Olmsted Brothers developed a park and natural areas plan for Birmingham and the surrounding areas. At that time, community leaders failed to implement the plan largely due to a lack of dedicated funding for the project. Many of the areas that the Olmsted Brothers recommended to be preserved as green space have since been developed. The Freshwater Land Trust is working to bring part of the original Olmsted Plan back to life and to create a network of connected spaces throughout Jefferson County and beyond.

It is our hope that our generation will be remembered as the one who restored our rivers and made land conservation a priority.

You can help

There are ways you can help. You can donate your skills, time or resources to the Freshwater Land Trust.