The Greenbelt Land Trust is a non-profit organization whose goal is to enhance and protect the open space amenities essential to preserving our quality of life in the Mid-Willamette Valley.

The members of the Greenbelt Land Trust believe that a well-planned community is composed of both an adequate and diverse supply of housing and commercial services and an open space network. As cities grow, it is the network of natural areas: forests, farmland, prairies, wetlands, hills and valleys, that gives a community its distinct sense of place.

As population continues to increase in the Willamette Valley, careful planning and timely action are essential to assure that open spaces will always provide a balance with the anticipated additional residential and business development. 

The mission of the Greenbelt Land Trust is to conserve important natural areas in order to enhance our quality of life and sense of place. Conserving large areas of habitats such as oak woodlands and savannahs, wetlands, upland and wetland prairies and farm and forest lands enables residents and visitors to experience natural areas on a daily basis.  In order to insure that these lands remains part of the fabric of our communities the Greenbelt Land Trust must act without delay to protect our natural areas.

Current Projects:

Lupine Meadows:

The Greenbelt Land Trust is working to permanently protect a 58-acre site in the Mid-Willamette Valley,near Philomath that contains approximately 20 acres of rare upland prairie habitat and 40 acres of riparian and wetland prairie habitats.  The Lupine Meadows project has been a priority for the Greenbelt Land Trust since 1998 when we first discovered the valuable and unique native habitats and species on the property. 

This unique site contains several endangered species dependent upon the prairies, including Kincaid’s lupine, Fender’s blue butterfly,   Nelson’s checkermallow and Willamette daisy.  We are working to initiate the restoration of the upland prairie by removing the unwanted vegetation and invasive grasses.  To enhance the rare plant populations we are working with Philomath High School and the Institute for Applied Ecology to grow out and plant seedlings of the suite of rare plants appropriate for this site.

Muddy Creek Conservation Cooridor:

The Greenbelt Land Trust, working with landowners and conservation organizations, has identified the Muddy Creek Corridor as a  critical link to protecting native habitats and wildlife.  The Greenbelt is working to protect 600 acres of native habitat within this corridor. 

This corridor extends from William L.  Finely National Wildlife Refuge to the Willamette River.  Muddy Creek contains some of the highest quality Oregon ash-Oregon white oak forests in the Willamette Valley and some of the last remaining wetland prairies.  These prairies support a variety of rare plant species only found in the Willamette Valley.  The creek also provides critical winter habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon.

Luckiamute Conservation Partnership:

The Greenbelt is working in partnership with landowners in western Benton County along the Luckiamute River and its tributaries, Price Creek and Maxfield Creek.  Our goal is to protect and restore a number of native habitats including upland and wetland prairies, riparian forests, and oak savannah/woodlands.  We are currently working with two landowners along the river to protect and restore over 100 acres of stream side habitat, upland prairie, and oak savannah/woodland. 

These habitats provide critical refuge for winter run steelhead, cutthroat trout, western meadow lark, Oregon vesper sparrow and western bluebird.