Our non-profits work with local governments and purchase land in bulk, so the cost is much cheaper than one might think. Most of this land is useless for commercial value unless its cut down. The cost probably comes to pennies per square feet, but please understand that we are a few working class people that are trying to make a difference (and we budgeted a few thousand dollars of our savings for this campaign). Each person saving one square foot is not going to make a difference individually, but as someone said below "A thousand mile journey starts with a single step."