The CLT`s primary function is to buy or accept gifts of land and lease it back to members under a 99-year lease that is inheritable and automatically renewable. Through the 99-year land lease, the trust removes land from the speculative market and facilitates multiple uses such as affordable housing, agriculture, and open space preservation. Part of this process is to determine - in conjunction with land-use planners, local government, and the community at large - the most appropriate use or uses for a given parcel of land, be it a wildlife refuge, a group of houses, a managed woodlot, a commercial development, or vegetables grown for the local market.



The Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires currently holds three parcels of land.