December 31, 2025 (Warren, CT) – The Warren Land Trust (WLT) has completed the acquisition of the 198-acre Tanner Farm Preserve on Route 341, securing one of the most iconic agricultural landscapes in Warren and the surrounding region. The acquisition and permanent protection of the land was completed in partnership with the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy (NCLC), which will hold an agricultural conservation easement on the farmland portion of the property.
It has been a multi-year effort to conserve this significant property, and furthers a 30-year effort by the Lake Waramaug Conservancy (LWC) and the Tanner family to improve and protect the health of the water resources on the farm. The transaction was also facilitated by Yale University, which conveyed a long-held interest in a portion of the farm to ensure its permanent protection.
Owned and operated by one of Warren’s oldest farming families for nearly 250 years, the land will continue to be farmed while securing prime agricultural soils, extensive forestland, critical wildlife habitat, and high-quality water resources. Flowing through the farm, Sucker Brook is the largest feeder to Lake Waramaug—one of only two Connecticut Heritage Lakes; protecting the riparian corridors of this cold-water stream helps sustain the lake’s clean water and sensitive ecosystem.
In addition to conservation benefits, the Tanner Farm Preserve will provide public access to a trail network that skirts the perimeter of the farm fields, features long vistas of the Warren Valley, and winds through upland forest. The trail network also allows for future connections to other Warren Land Trust preserves, the Wyantenock State Forest, and the Connecticut Blue-Blazed Mattatuck Trail.
As the project advanced the goals of numerous State of Connecticut and federal agricultural, environmental, and public recreation programs, generous funding was provided through a combination of state and federal grants. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Farmland Preservation Program, together with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, supported the protection of 128 acres of farmland. Together with this transaction, nearly 400 acres of farmland in Warren have now been protected permanently for agricultural purposes by the Farmland Preservation Program.
The preservation of the remaining 70 acres of forest in the northern portion of the property was funded by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program. Together with adjacent properties, the conserved 70 acres supports the Housatonic Valley Association’s Greenprint Collaborative “Follow the Forest” initiative, which focuses on conserving connected forest habitat while addressing climate resilience and habitat fragmentation.
The Warren Land Trust and Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy extend sincere thanks to the many people and organizations—for their multi-year collaboration and commitment—that made it possible to preserve this extraordinary property and landscape: Terry and Tara Tanner and Elwyn and Ruth Tanner for their generosity, commitment, and vision to protect these critical farmland and natural resources for the benefit of generations to come, and our conservation partners the Lake Waramaug Conservancy, the Housatonic Valley Association’s Greenprint Collaborative and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Wild East Action Fund. We also thank Yale University, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
About the Warren Land Trust
The Warren Land Trust is a nationally-accredited conservation organization dedicated to the preservation and responsible stewardship of open space, watershed, and natural resources in and around Warren, Connecticut for the benefit of current and future generations. These protected resources include meadows, forests, lakes, ponds, streams, wetlands, wildlife habitats and corridors, farmland, and scenic vistas. Committed to connecting the community to nature, the Warren Land Trust creates opportunities to enjoy, learn about, and care for land and the environment.
About Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy
Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy (NCLC) is a nonprofit, regional conservation organization working with the communities of Litchfield and northern Fairfield Counties to safeguard natural and working lands, public recreation areas, and drinking water resources forever. Founded in 1965, NCLC is the largest land trust in Connecticut, protecting 14,200 acres (and growing). To strengthen the region’s capacity to conserve high-quality conservation lands and ensure the permanence of those conserved lands for the future, NCLC merged with Brookfield Open Space Legacy in 2019, Naromi Land Trust in 2020, and Candlewood Valley Regional Land Trust in 2025. NCLC’s conserved lands include 31 public hiking preserves, 49 working farms, 57 miles of rivers and streams, and over 3,000 acres of habitat for rare and endangered species.