Stability
Greenbelt enrollment guidance, incentive stacking, and transaction assistance so conversion is not the only arithmetic.
For landowners
Keep the land. Reduce the pressure. Add purpose.
Participation does not require opening the entire property or hosting frequent activity. Defined portions. Limited uses. Seasonal rhythms. Clear boundaries. You remain the steward.
Landowner path
Where are you now?
Are you ready for a permanent restriction — a perpetual conservation easement held by an accredited land trust?
What you actually receive
Control
You define the Walden Zone, prohibited uses, visitor policy, and whether anyone besides family ever walks the land.
Formation
Land becomes more than undeveloped acreage: a place where people recover attention, and a story that can outlast a sale.
Tennessee tools we navigate
Walden is a pathway, not a list of links. Tax and easement outcomes require independent counsel.
Greenbelt (use-value tax)
Tennessee’s Agricultural, Forest & Open Space Land Act values land by present use, not development speculation. Forest classification generally needs ≥15 acres and a forest management plan; rollback is 3 years (ag/forest) or 5 years (open space).
Farmland Preservation Fund
SB0207 funds permanent conservation easements on farmland and forestland, held by qualified 501(c)(3) easement holders. Walden builds the pipeline; land trusts hold the easements.
Transaction Assistance
TDA and The Land Trust for Tennessee can help cover attorney fees, surveys, appraisals, and stewardship donations for perpetual agreements.
Practice cost-share
TAEP forestry (50–75% reimbursement), TRIP riparian incentives, ARCF BMPs, and NRCS EQIP/CSP/ACEP — stacked as a stewardship on-ramp, not a link dump.