National Conservation Easement Database (NCED), October 2015

In 2010, the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED) an initiative of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Community, published the first national database of conservation easement information.  This public-private partnerships brought together national conservation groups, local and regional land trusts, and state and federal agencies to collect a total of 113,038 public easements (more than 23.5 million acres). Since the last version released in September, 2014, the NCED team has added almost 400,000 acres to the database. In addition, the NCED partnership has been working to improve both the accuracy of the database, as well as the usability of the NCED website.

The purpose of the NCED project has focused on two primary goals: 1) encouraging collaboration with land trusts and public agencies, and 2) creating a single, up-to-date, sustainable nationwide system for managing and accessing data about conservation easements.

Five leading conservation organizations have joined forces to develop the NCED:

• Conservation Biology Institute
• Ducks Unlimited
• Nature Serve
• Trust for Public Land

Key partners providing support, advice, and data include the Land Trust Alliance, representing the views and concerns of the nation's 1,700+ local and regional land trusts, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

For more information on the National Conservation Easement Database - please visit the NCED portal