Land Conservation Benefits from Economic Downturn

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, December 30, 2011

Tough economic times have been a bonanza for land trusts and nonprofit conservation groups, which have recently been buying rights to California redwood groves, beaches, oak savannahs and timberland at a feverish pace.

The shopping spree has resulted in the preservation of hundreds of thousands of acres of the state’s most pristine and picturesque landscapes at a time when the country is slopping around in an economic wallow.

The bargain prices from land investors and developers trying to get out of failed housing projects and real estate deals are among the very few positives in a debt-ridden state, where parks, preserves and historic sites are being shuttered and home and property foreclosures are occurring with disturbing regularity.

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