What is a Conservation Easement?
A conservation easement is a legal agreements between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values.
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Does that mean that landowners give up ownership of the land?
No. It simply means that as a landowner you voluntarily give up certain rights associated with that land, such as the right to build additional structures, while retaining the right to grow crops on the land. Landowners continue to own and use their land and retain the right to sell it or pass it
on to their heirs. However, the future owners are also bound by the easement's terms. In this sense, an easement is binding in perpetuity.
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How are conservation easements structured?
A conservation easement actually offers more flexibility than you might think. While an easement on a property containing rare wildlife habitat might prohibit any development, another easement on a farm might allow continued farming and the building of additional agricultural structures and
may only apply to a portion of the land. The key is that all of the terms and conditions of each easement are laid out in advance with the full participation of both the owner and the land trust.
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How does the public benefit from land trusts and conservation easements?
Land Trusts, through conservation easements, protect a key public good by keeping the land undeveloped and its natural resources protected. Conservation easements serve to protect water sources, wildlife habitats, and prime farm and forest land while also providing relief from urban crowding,
protecting historic landscapes, and preserving scenic vistas.
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What are the benefits to the landowners of a Conservation Easement?
A conservation easement has many benefits for the landowner. It can be essential for passing land on to the next generation. It may lower the land's market value by removing the land development potential and therefore lower estate taxes. This can be critical in allowing the heirs to
keep the land intact. In addition to this benefit, a conservation easement may also result in income tax savings. Most importantly, the landowner gets the benefit of knowing that their land will remain intact, open, and undeveloped, thereby preserving its benefits to the public and their
heirs.
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Are there many existing conservation easements in the U.S.?
Land trusts and conservation easements can be found throughout the United States. The oldest land trusts are 100 years old! There are more than 1,300 local and regional land trusts around the country that serve to conserve and protect open spaces and the resources they provide.
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Who supports conservation easements?
Many of us want to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren of protected and conserved open space and resources. Conservation easements help achieve this goal in a way that still allows for many of these tracts of land to remain as working farms, forests, scenic views and wildlife
habitat.
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Re-Printed with permission from the The Land Trust for Tennessee
615-244.LAND (5263)
