The Salem Land Trust Membership will vote on a proposed three-way merger with The Colchester Land Trust and The Avalonia Land Conservancy on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM at the Salem Grange Hall. Scroll down or click Read More for more details.
Notice of Pending Merger of The Salem Land Trust, The Colchester Land Trust and The Avalonia Land Conservancy
Hello, visitors to The Salem Land Trust web site.
Since 2021 the Board of the Salem Land Trust has had discussions about the possibility of merging with one or two local land trusts. In 2025, a merger became a real possibility for The Colchester Land Trust, Avalonia Land Conservancy and The Salem Land Trust.
Over the months the merging land trusts’ Boards, along with other land trust officials, all advised by six attorneys, had many discussions, and shared their land trust’s documentation and financial information. All parties involved worked to be certain that this merger would best secure the brightest future for all their conserved land.
On April 17, 2026, The SLT Board of Directors voted to approve this three-way merger, as they unanimously think this is a most positive and necessary step for SLT. However, as per the SLT By-Laws, the SLT Membership must also approve this merger.
On April 27th, the members of SLT were mailed letters explaining the pending merger of these three accredited land trusts.
The vote of the Membership will take place at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at the Salem Grange Hall (on the Salem Green), 250 Hartford Rd., Salem, CT 06420.
Please use the link below to find the “Letter to the Members”, which explains further why the SLT Board thinks this is a very good, necessary step. The important legal merger documents, on which the membership will vote, are also available below.
Financial Disclosure Statements for each of the three land trusts are available upon request. Please email Lschroeder@snet.net for more information or for a copy of any of the three Financial Disclosure Statements.
Documents to download
- Letter to the Members (PDF) — explanation from the SLT Board of why this merger is recommended.
- Member Notice and Resolutions (PDF) — formal notice of the meeting and the resolutions to be voted on.
- Plan of Merger — Avalonia, CLT & SLT (PDF) — the legal plan of merger between Avalonia Land Conservancy, The Colchester Land Trust and The Salem Land Trust.
