About Us

About Darien Land Trust

Our Mission

The Darien Land Trust preserves natural space, connects our community with nature and promotes conservation awareness to protect land now and forever.

Property Holdings

The Darien Land Trust now owns or has conservation easements totaling 230 acres in Darien. We have permanently protected diverse natural environments such as wetlands along the Five Mile River, tidal salt marshes at Holly Pond and Scott’s Cove, upland forests in Dunlap Woods, and meadow habitat at Mather Meadows, Fox Run, and Brendans Meadow.

Recent land donations, including Delafield Preserve and Alexander Glen, have expanded the open space under preservation.

Although the majority of our properties are too wet or fragile for pedestrian access, we own three large parcels with hiking trails open to the public: Dunlap Woods, Cherry Lawn, and Olson Woods. For a large-scale map of Darien Land Trust properties, click here.

Best Standards and Practices

The DLT is a member of the Land Trust Alliance ( LTA), a national network of over 1700 community-based land trusts throughout the United States. Whether working with policy makers in Washington, D.C. or at the grass roots level in a community through a local land trust such as the DLT, the LTA is a powerful advocate and voice for conservation needs throughout the United States.

The DLT is proud to be part of a national movement to protect our environment for the generations to come. Because we all share the environment, our personal health and the environmental well-being of our community are forever connected. The Darien Land Trust (DLT) works every day to protect our community by accepting gifts of open space in Darien. The DLT then cares for the properties in perpetuity.

Governance

The Darien Land Trust was founded in 1960. It is governed by a highly involved Board of Trustees and enjoys enthusiastic support from the community.