The Bethany Land Trust, Inc. is a private, charitable non-profit corporation dedicated to serving Bethany through the conservation of land. Formerly known as the Bethany Conservation Trust, it was established in 1968 by Steven Collins, a professor of Biological Sciences at SCSU and Attorney William Simon, both residents of Bethany. This was one of the first land trusts to be established in the State of Connecticut.
The Trust’s first donation was a 27-acre tract donated by Marion Jenkins, now known as Carrington Lowell Preserve. Since that time, the Trust has acquired 30 other parcels (473 acres) in outright fee ownership and accepted 18 conservation easements (200 acres), bringing the total acreage under protection to 673 acres.