Conservation Easements
The protection of public lands in Missouri, about seven percent of the state, has made a huge difference. But about 93% of the state’s land is privately owned, a major challenge for those seeking to expand conservation efforts. Of course, many private citizens provided land protection of one sort or another since before the state was formed. Some were guarding private hunting preserves or fishing areas. Some were overseeing sites of historical significance.
But by the time of the establishment of Missouri’s national forests in the early twentieth century, most of the privately held land had little in the way of conservation management. Few private lands were managed for ecological reasons until late in the twentieth century.
Many landowners see conservation as something that should happen on public lands—something that won’t “constrain the human activities we call progress.” As Doug Tallamy puts it, “we cling to the notion that nature should be saved where nature remains, not where humans live, work and play.”
Thankfully, interest on the part of private landowners, like the ones I know in Springfield, seems to be growing. One tool that is working successfully in many places is the conservation easement. With this tool, the landowner can continue to own the land, but sets part of it aside in perpetuity as an easement under an agreement recorded on the property deed. Thus, the easement rides with the property to every future landowner.
A continual challenge with using easements is that someone must be responsible for making sure the terms of the agreement are adhered to, also in perpetuity. Well-established land protection organizations, such as Ozark Land Trust, can take on this monitoring responsibility as long as funding, and with it, personnel, are there to support it. For this reason, the landowner may be asked to pay into a “stewardship fund” that covers not only up-front costs like legal fees, but also supports a growth fund to cover personnel for monitoring responsibilities. The landowner may realize tax benefits from the easement, but these are often not enough to offset the required up-front payment. Therefore, easements are usually signed by conservation-minded landowners, not just by people looking for tax breaks.
Another land protection tool gaining traction is the “buy-protect-sell” model. This is as a viable way to put conservation on the ground through the private marketplace, obviating the need for government intervention. In one scenario, funds for the program are held by a bank or non-profit institution. This is referred to as “patient capital,” because investor returns may be delayed as properties work their way through the process. A property comes up for sale—let’s say ten acres. It has certain conservation values, so is of interest for protection. Maybe it has a creek running through it, but the creek has eroded banks and a thinly vegetated riparian area filled mostly with invasive species. A group or organization with a conservation mission uses the funds to purchase the property.
The group then leads efforts to fix the creek’s problems—by stabilizing bank erosion, for example, or removing invasives and planting vegetation to expand the riparian zone. Then, a conservation easement is placed on the rehabilitated area, maybe three acres in all. The property can then be sold to a private buyer with the easement intact and recorded on the deed. The buyer, on the seven acres outside the easement, can develop, or farm, or build a retirement home, or whatever else local land-use laws will allow.
Money from the sale of the land is transferred back to the investment fund, ready for use as a “revolving fund” when the next desirable property becomes available. A corollary idea is to have a second “philanthropy” fund, capitalized by conservation-minded people who just want to see land protected. This funding could pay for needed environmental improvements, or be used to replenish the investment fund if the property declines in value with the easement attached.
You can find out more about conservation easements by clicking the button below, which will take you to Ozark Land Trust, part of a rapidly expanding land conservation movement throughout the United States that now includes about 2,000 land trusts. Land trusts are private, nonprofit, voluntary organizations dedicated to helping landowners protect land in perpetuity through various methods that include conservation easements, nature preserves, and partnerships with conservation organizations.
OLT has dozens of projects protecting more than 30,000 acres of land throughout the Ozark region. It has been instrumental in protecting many natural and geological features such as waterfalls, caves, springs, bluffs, forests, prairies, glades, rivers, and wetlands. OLT also preserves urban greenspace, agricultural lands, historic places, and sensitive ecological sites.
OLT is nationally accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, and has undergone a rigorous review of standards and practices to meet the qualifications required by the commission.
OLT is a non-profit conservation land trust with tax-exempt status pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations to OLT are tax deductible. OLT was founded in 1984 and is operated by a volunteer board of directors that oversees the activities of the organization and directs its staff.
OLT is a member of the Missouri Land Trust Coalition, an association of both land trusts and their supportive and partner organizations dedicated to conservation across the state. The roster of MLTC is attached. MLTC Organizations
But by the time of the establishment of Missouri’s national forests in the early twentieth century, most of the privately held land had little in the way of conservation management. Few private lands were managed for ecological reasons until late in the twentieth century.
Many landowners see conservation as something that should happen on public lands—something that won’t “constrain the human activities we call progress.” As Doug Tallamy puts it, “we cling to the notion that nature should be saved where nature remains, not where humans live, work and play.”
Thankfully, interest on the part of private landowners, like the ones I know in Springfield, seems to be growing. One tool that is working successfully in many places is the conservation easement. With this tool, the landowner can continue to own the land, but sets part of it aside in perpetuity as an easement under an agreement recorded on the property deed. Thus, the easement rides with the property to every future landowner.
A continual challenge with using easements is that someone must be responsible for making sure the terms of the agreement are adhered to, also in perpetuity. Well-established land protection organizations, such as Ozark Land Trust, can take on this monitoring responsibility as long as funding, and with it, personnel, are there to support it. For this reason, the landowner may be asked to pay into a “stewardship fund” that covers not only up-front costs like legal fees, but also supports a growth fund to cover personnel for monitoring responsibilities. The landowner may realize tax benefits from the easement, but these are often not enough to offset the required up-front payment. Therefore, easements are usually signed by conservation-minded landowners, not just by people looking for tax breaks.
Another land protection tool gaining traction is the “buy-protect-sell” model. This is as a viable way to put conservation on the ground through the private marketplace, obviating the need for government intervention. In one scenario, funds for the program are held by a bank or non-profit institution. This is referred to as “patient capital,” because investor returns may be delayed as properties work their way through the process. A property comes up for sale—let’s say ten acres. It has certain conservation values, so is of interest for protection. Maybe it has a creek running through it, but the creek has eroded banks and a thinly vegetated riparian area filled mostly with invasive species. A group or organization with a conservation mission uses the funds to purchase the property.
The group then leads efforts to fix the creek’s problems—by stabilizing bank erosion, for example, or removing invasives and planting vegetation to expand the riparian zone. Then, a conservation easement is placed on the rehabilitated area, maybe three acres in all. The property can then be sold to a private buyer with the easement intact and recorded on the deed. The buyer, on the seven acres outside the easement, can develop, or farm, or build a retirement home, or whatever else local land-use laws will allow.
Money from the sale of the land is transferred back to the investment fund, ready for use as a “revolving fund” when the next desirable property becomes available. A corollary idea is to have a second “philanthropy” fund, capitalized by conservation-minded people who just want to see land protected. This funding could pay for needed environmental improvements, or be used to replenish the investment fund if the property declines in value with the easement attached.
You can find out more about conservation easements by clicking the button below, which will take you to Ozark Land Trust, part of a rapidly expanding land conservation movement throughout the United States that now includes about 2,000 land trusts. Land trusts are private, nonprofit, voluntary organizations dedicated to helping landowners protect land in perpetuity through various methods that include conservation easements, nature preserves, and partnerships with conservation organizations.
OLT has dozens of projects protecting more than 30,000 acres of land throughout the Ozark region. It has been instrumental in protecting many natural and geological features such as waterfalls, caves, springs, bluffs, forests, prairies, glades, rivers, and wetlands. OLT also preserves urban greenspace, agricultural lands, historic places, and sensitive ecological sites.
OLT is nationally accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, and has undergone a rigorous review of standards and practices to meet the qualifications required by the commission.
OLT is a non-profit conservation land trust with tax-exempt status pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations to OLT are tax deductible. OLT was founded in 1984 and is operated by a volunteer board of directors that oversees the activities of the organization and directs its staff.
OLT is a member of the Missouri Land Trust Coalition, an association of both land trusts and their supportive and partner organizations dedicated to conservation across the state. The roster of MLTC is attached. MLTC Organizations