LandTrust Connects Landowners with Outdoor Recreationists
Among the 77 Nebraska listings covering 260,000 acres available to book for recreational opportunities on the LandTrust website, Henry Beel’s family ranch near Ainsworth has been earning additional income since the spring of 2021.
Dubbed “the Airbnb for Outdoor Recreationists,” LandTrust is an online marketplace that allows landowners to connect directly with outdoor enthusiasts, providing opportunities to recreate on their property and allowing them to generate additional passive income. Landowners can host experiences like hunting, bird watching, farm tours, RV stays and more, with complete control over every booking.
“At LandTrust, we believe the future of working lands is dependent on a portfolio of income from agricultural production, conservation and recreational opportunities,” said Nic De Castro, Founder and CEO of LandTrust. “We help landowners tap into the income potential of those recreational opportunities and at the same time open up millions of acres of private land for outdoor enthusiasts to have new experiences and create lasting memories.”
Recreational opportunities on the 900-acre Beel ranch include deer hunting, turkey hunting, coyote hunting and bird watching. Beel’s family is extremely focused on keeping animal populations healthy and appreciates the control they have with LandTrust, which allows them to turn bookings on and off as populations fluctuate.
“LandTrust has been an easy way to expand our business beyond just ranching – every little bit helps. And we’re in complete control of who can hunt and on what days, instead of an outfitting service,” Beel said. “For example, we’ve turned down about 20 turkey hunts this year so we can maintain a healthy population. We also limit the number of deer that hunters can take.”
Similar to other companies in the sharing economy like Airbnb and Vrbo, LandTrust is a land-sharing site where landowners can list their property online and outdoor enthusiasts can search for experiences that match their interests. Landowners mainly in Montana, Nebraska and Kansas currently list over 1 million acres on LandTrust, which can be searched by state, property name or type of experience.
“Compared to traditional annual leases, landowners prefer LandTrust’s short-term rental model because it enables them to continue letting their friends, family and neighbors hunt, fish and otherwise enjoy their land, and also generate income when they aren’t using it,” De Castro said.
For Beel’s family, LandTrust has been easy to use and has even led to lasting relationships.
“The LandTrust platform doesn’t take much time to use and comes with the support of LSMs (Landowner Success Managers),” Beel said. “We’ve seen a lot of out-of-state hunters since we started using it and have still been able to let family, friends and locals hunt on our property whenever we want. We’ve even had recurring guests – one who I text with regularly will be visiting for a third year.”
About LandTrust:
LandTrust is an easy-to-use online marketplace that generates income for landowners and provides recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts by connecting them to each other. Hundreds of landowners – many whom are the fourth-, fifth- or even sixth-generation – currently list over 1 million acres on LandTrust, offering bookings for do-it-yourself outdoor experiences from hunting and fishing, to birdwatching and foraging, farm and ranch tours, and more, while retaining control over their property. LandTrust currently lists properties in the Rocky Mountain West and Great Plains, and plans to expand into five more states in 2023.
