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Conservation
Easements
From the publication Protecting
Your Land with a Conservation Easement
(© 1994 Land
Trust Alliance - Washington, DC)
Conservation easements
have helped thousands of families protect millions of
acres of open space. With a conservation easement, you
permanently protect your land without giving up
ownership. You can continue to live on it and use it,
and can sell it or pass it on to heirs.
What's more, you can
reduce future estate taxes - taxes that otherwise could
rob your children of their legacy, and result in the
destruction of one more beautiful piece of land.
How Does a
Conservation Easement Work?
A conservation easement
is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land
trust (a private, nonprofit conservation organization)
or government agency that permanently limits a
property's uses in order to protect its conservation
values.
When you own land, you
also "own" many rights associated with it,
such as the rights to harvest timber, build structures,
and so on. When you donate or sell a conservation
easement to a land trust, you permanently give up some
of those rights. For example, you might give up the
right to build additional residences, while retaining
the right to grow crops. Future owners also will be
bound by the easement's terms.
The conservation easement
(called a "conservation restriction" in some
states) is written up in a legal agreement that is
tailored to protect the land's conservation values and
meet the financial and personal needs of the landowner.
An easement on property containing rare wildlife habitat
might prohibit development of any kind, for example,
while one on a farm might allow continued farming and
the building of additional agricultural structures.
In some cases, a
conservation easement may apply to just a portion of the
property, leaving the option of development open for the
remaining part. It may allow limited building within the
area under the easement.
The land trust takes on
the responsibility and legal right to enforce the
easement. If a future owner or someone else violates the
easement - perhaps by erecting a building the easement
doesn't allow - the land trust will work to have the
violation corrected. (The land trust usually asks for a
donation from the easement donor to help offset the cost
of future stewardship expenses.)
Further
Reading: Conservation
Easements - An Invaluable Tool for the Private Forest
Owner
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