Conservation easements:
a permanent solution

Given American traditions of liberty and the right to pursue happiness, it almost seems un-American to imagine landowners entrusting the preservation of their land to anyone but themselves, or permitting a land trust to limit what they can do with their property.

But more and more people are looking to doing just that. They are turning to conservation easements as a way to preserve land, permanently.

Pennsylvania has lost more than 4,000,000 acres of farmland to residential and commercial development since the 1950s, according Tom Hylton, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Save Our Land, Save Our Towns.”

A farmer in Lake Huntington, NY recently sold 141 acres to a developer, and it remains uncertain whether the future subdivision will help the local economy.

As letters of solicitation increase in the mailboxes of dairy, produce and timber farmers and owners of large and small tracts of land; as tax bills go up and the price of raw food goes down, one wonders how long these sentinels will stand their ground, withstanding the pressures of development and resisting the allure of selling land at a high price.

Even if landowners want to preserve their lands, there may be no alternative to selling because of finances.

Heirs of land are required to pay an estate tax when the landowner dies, which is determined by the property’s highest potential value (if it were subdivided) instead of its actual value as open space or farmland. The tax can be as high as 55 percent of the assessed potential value, a price many can’t afford. Whereas, a conservation easement would ensure that the land is assessed as open space.

Preservation of open space is up against many pressures, but the alternative approach of conservation easements gives landowners and municipalities the right to protect the historic and ecological value of land permanently.

A conservation easement is a legal arrangement between a landowner and a government entity or non-profit land trust that restricts certain uses, defined by the landowner, on portions or all of the property, forever, even if the land is sold. Under the easement, owners maintain ownership, but they permanently give up certain, agreed-upon rights.

Since easements are conservation-based, they usually aim to maintain the natural quality of land by limiting future development to one or two new homes; therefore, the easement reduces the property’s assessed value and, true to its name, eases tax burdens and reduces property-ownership costs.

Conservation easements do not necessarily prohibit mineral exploration or extraction, hunting or timbering. However, they may require that the methods of extraction have a limited localized impact on the property. Timber harvesting may be allowed when it enhances the natural habitat.

In one sense, a landowner can have the best of all possible worlds. While landowners negotiate their rights to develop their property, they gain a tremendous ability to preserve and conserve it.

Sue Currier, executive director of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, said that her non-profit land trust has helped landowners protect 2,400 acres in the Upper Delaware, and an additional 1,000 acres are under negotiation.

There are some that would question why it is important to conserve the land at all. There are some that would say, if you can’t afford to keep the land, then sell it to others who can afford it or simply develop it.

But indiscriminate subdivision and development is not a sustainable solution.

The pressures and responsibilities that are inherent to land ownership, especially in this day and age, challenge us to be creative and open to a wide variety of solutions.

Conservation easements provide an invaluable option for people who fully understand their roles as impermanent stewards over the natural beauty of their properties.

Charlie Buterbaugh
Assistant Editor