CAMDEN, Maine — A new census of land trusts says 10 million acres have been conserved nationwide since 2005, including nearly 2 million in Maine.
The National Land Trust Census shows that the recession has not hurt voluntary land conservation, which increased 27 percent between 2005 and 2010.
The report says a total of 47 million acres — an area over twice the size of all the national parks in the contiguous United States — is now protected by land trusts.
The census says Maine land trusts conserved 143,710 acres between 2005 and 2010, an 8 percent increase in land protected.
It also notes that Maine was right behind California as having conserved the highest total acreage of all states in that time frame.
Online: Census at www.lta.org/census