Agriculture in RI

Five farmers share their stories - the urgent need to protect Rhode Island's remaining working farms is complicated by challenges that farmers face: finding land to farm and sustaining the economic viability of farms.

Click on the photo above to watch the video.

Protecting Rhode Island's Working Farms

Go to the Farm Conservation page for the Council's other videos and reports about farm conservation in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island Land Trust Council

The Rhode Island Land Trust Council is a coalition of the state's land trusts - community-based organizations formed to protect land that preserves the open spaces, natural areas, scenic character, farm lands, forests, historic sites, watersheds, and drinking water supplies that define the character of our communities and our state. Collectively, land trusts are preserving the special places that are our heritage and will be our legacy for future generations.

Land Trusts in Rhode Island are grass roots organizations that reflect the uniqueness and priorities of their communities.The first land trusts in Rhode Island were formed in 1972. Photo credit: David Thalmann, Aquidneck Land Trust Today there are over 45 land trusts in Rhode Island, operating in all but four of the state's 39 municipalities.

Only seven Rhode Island land trusts have staff - the others are volunteer organizations. Dozens of people across the state volunteer 100's of hoursto preserve and manage our communities' most valued open space lands.

Get outdoors during Land Trust Days!

Visit ExploreRI for Information on land trusts’ walking trails.

Voters Approve Land Conservation Bond – Question 6

On November 6, 2012 Rhode Island’s voters overwhelmingly (nearly 70%) approved the state’s land conservation bond (Question 6) to invest $20 million in our future: protecting farmland & open space, restoring Narragansett Bay, and creating parks.

Voters in 9 municipalities approved this bond with the highest approval rate in over 10 years. Check out the election results by town with a comparison to voter approval rates for land conservation bonds in 2004, 2008 & 2010.

Town by Town vote results and comparison to 2004, 2008 & 2010. (PDF)