What is a Conservation
Easement ?
In the United States, a conservation easement (or
Conservation covenant) is an encumbrance — sometimes
including a transfer of usage rights (easement) — which
creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement
between a landowner and a government agency (municipality,
county, state, federal) or a qualified land protection
organization (often called a "land trust"), for the purposes
of conservation. It restricts real estate development,
commercial and industrial uses, and certain other activities
on a property to a mutually agreed upon level. The property
remains the private property of the landowner. |
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The decision to place a conservation easement on a
property is strictly a voluntary one where the easement is sold or
donated. The restrictions of the easement, once set in place, "run
with the land" and are binding on all future owners of the property
(in other words, the restrictions are perpetual). The restrictions
are spelled out in a legal document that is recorded in the local
land records and the easement becomes a part of the chain of title
for the property. Appraisals of the value of the easement, and
financial arrangements between the parties (land owner and land
trust), generally are kept private.
The primary purpose of a conservation easement is to protect land
from certain forms of development or use. Lands for which
conservation easements may be desirable include agricultural land,
timber resources, and/or other valuable natural resources such as
wildlife habitat, clean water, clean air, or scenic open space.
Protection is achieved primarily by separating the right to
subdivide and build on the land from the other rights of ownership.
The landowner who gives up these "development rights" continues to
privately own and manage the land and may receive significant state
and federal tax advantages for having donated and/or sold the
conservation easement. Perhaps more importantly, the landowner has
contributed to the public good by preserving the conservation values
associated with their land for future generations. In accepting the
conservation easement, the easement holder has a responsibility to
monitor future uses of the land to ensure compliance with the terms
of the easement and to enforce the terms if a violation occurs.
Although a conservation easement prohibits certain uses by the
landowner, such an easement does not make the land public. On the
contrary, many conservation easements confer no use of the land
either to the easement holder or to the public. Furthermore, many
conservation easements reserve to the landowner specific uses which
if not reserved would be prohibited. Some conservation easements
confer specific uses to the easement holder or to the public. These
details are spelled out in the legal document that creates the
conservation easement.
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