Download or read book Managing Conservation Easements in Perpetuity written by Leslie Ratley-Beach and published by . This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Future of Perpetuity written by James L. Olmsted and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brief article provides explanatory background material on the use of conservation easements to protect private lands and describes some of the major concerns of the land trust community regarding the use of conservation easements in the 21st century. Among the subjects discussed are conservation easement amendment and termination, making conservation easement existence and location public, taking climate change into account in conservation easements, the interaction of conservation easements and land use and zoning, and the increased reliance on management plans to inject flexibility into conservation easements. The article is downloaded along with the full Fall issue of the Long View, a publication of the Oregon State Bar Sustainable Future Section, which includes two other articles on conservation easements and an article addressing Oregon's Public-Trust Doctrine.
Download or read book Reinventing Conservation Easements written by Jeff Pidot and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No recent happening in land conservation rivals the rapid expansion of conservation easements and the related growth in the number of land trusts over the past 15 years. Among the forces driving this phenomenon are tax and other public subsidies and the view that the conservation easement is a win-win strategy in land protection. The thesis of this policy focus report is that conservation easements are a valuable land protection tool, complementing regulation, land acquisition, and tax policies, but that reforms are needed in tax and other laws and conventions governing easements, lest we risk losing the public benefits for which the easements were established.
Download or read book In Defense of Conservation Easements written by Nancy A. McLaughlin and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article critiques the arguments offered in favor of treating donated conservation easements as unrestricted charitable gifts (that is, as fungible or liquid assets in the hands of their government or land trust holders). It also discusses the practical and potential constitutional problems associated with proposals to change state law to permit government entities and land trusts to sell, trade, release, extinguish, or otherwise terminate the conservation easements they hold outside of judicial cy pres proceedings. Johnson County, Wyoming's, improper termination of a perpetual conservation easement, which was challenged in Hicks v. Dowd and Salzburg v. Dowd, provides the backdrop for the discussion.
Download or read book Conservation Easements written by Nancy A. McLaughlin and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perpetual conservation easements are intended to protect the particular land they encumber for the conservation purposes specified in the deed of conveyance in perpetuity, or at least until circumstances have changed so profoundly that continued protection of the land for those purposes is no longer feasible. To protect the public interest and investment in perpetual conservation easements, and, at the same time, permit adjustments to be made to respond to changing conditions, such easements should be treated like any other form of charitable asset acquired by a government or charitable entity for a particular charitable purpose - i.e., as subject to equitable charitable trust principles. This Article outlines the considerable support for applying charitable trust principles to perpetual conservation easements, including uniform laws, the Restatement of Property, federal tax law, and judicial activity on this issue to date. This Article cautions that perpetual land protection is not appropriate in all circumstances and recommends a more considered use of perpetual conservation easements as a land protection tool. This article also explores the possible use of a number of nonperpetual conservation easements to accomplish land protection goals.
Download or read book Conservation Easement Stewardship written by Renee Bouplon and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements written by C. Timothy Lindstrom and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Voluntary land conservation, resulting from increasingly alluring tax benefits, has significantly changed the face of land use in the United States and promises to have an even more significant influence in the future. There are more than 1,500 land trusts in the U.S. today, involving millions of acres of land that have been permanently protected by conservation easements. Most of these land trusts depend heavily upon the significant income or estate tax benefits offered by the federal tax code as an incentive for voluntary land conservation. However, only a very small percentage of land trust personnel, landowners or their advisors, or even government officials, fully understand the complexity of the requirements for these tax benefits. This is a comprehensive book on the tax benefits of the charitable contribution, or bargain sale, of a conservation easement. It provides a detailed explanation of the complex and extensive requirements of the federal tax code and related concepts, including the rules governing the operation of tax-exempt organizations such as land trusts. Clearly written, systematic in its coverage, it is intended to be of value for anyone who deals with land trust issues, including land trust staff and trustees, landowners, lawyers, accountants, government officials, and interested lay people. Structured for easy reference, A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements is designed to be used as a resource tool. Related topics are cross-referenced throughout. All principles in the book are illustrated with one or more useful examples. The tax benefits of contributing a conservation easement are unquestionably the heart of voluntary land conservation today. Knowledge of the tax law relating to land trusts and conservation easements is vital to properly establishing and managing land trusts and to insuring the tax deductibility of conservation easements. The future of voluntary land conservation is dependent on a clear understanding of tax policy. Complete, meticulous, and up to date, A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements is an essential handbook.
Download or read book Designing Perpetual Conservation Agreements for Land Management written by Adena R. Rissman and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conservation initiatives on working ranches balance flexibility for land management with restrictions to ensure protection over time. Conservation easements are a common tool for range conservation, but the perpetual nature of their individually negotiated rights and restrictions may present a challenge for adaptive land management. The evolution of conservation easement approaches to land management was addressed in a review of 52 grazing easements created by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in California rangelands between 1973 and 2006 as well as through interviews with TNC staff. Easement terms related to land management increased in complexity over time, particularly for purchased easements on private land. Easements commonly contained restrictions on riparian or wetland management (58%), residual dry matter (50%), and type of animal permitted (46%) but rarely restricted number of cattle or animal unit months (4%). Flexibility was provided by easement terms such as exceptions for drought years and reference to best management practices, the easement holder's administrative discretion, and easement amendment. Interviews with TNC staff revealed an iterative process in which conservation easements remain relatively fixed once they are established, whereas subsequent easements incorporate lessons learned from easement monitoring, enforcement, management, and applicable science. Conservation easements with an adaptive approach would link compliance terms with conservation goals, require monitoring of those terms, and have a mechanism for altering land management based on monitoring results. All three of these realms present challenges for the conservation easement structure. Improvements could be made in easement terms, ecological monitoring, and stewardship to improve the effectiveness and adaptability of this tool for maintaining ecological function on working ranches.
Download or read book Is the Concept of Perpetuity in Conservation Easements Relevant written by Kimberly Lynn Muxlow and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Conservation Easement Handbook written by Janet Diehl and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Conservation Easements written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Perpetual Conservation Easements in the 21st Century written by Nancy A. McLaughlin and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The public is investing billions of dollars in conservation easements, which now protect an estimated 40 million acres throughout the United States. But all is not well. Uncertainties in the law and abusive practices threaten to undermine public confidence in and the effectiveness of conservation easements as a land protection tool. This short article is part of a series of articles published in the law review discussing conservation easements, with a focus on what we have learned thus far and where we should go from here. This article sets the stage by describing the dramatic growth in the use of conservation easements, the various laws that impact easement creation and administration, a timeline of important legal and policy developments, and the recent surprising lack of certainty and consensus regarding what it means to protect land “in perpetuity” or “forever” with a conservation easement. The article concludes by discussing how the perpetuity issue might be productively resolved.
Download or read book Landowner s Guide to Conservation Easements written by Steven Bick and published by Kendall Hunt. This book was released on 2003-05-23 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Changing Landscape of Conservation Easements written by Amy Wilson Morris and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Amending and Terminating Perpetual Conservation Easements written by Nancy A. McLaughlin and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until fairly recently, little consideration had been given to precisely what it means to protect land 'in perpetuity' with a conservation easement. But as perpetual conservation easements have begun to age, and the protected lands have begun to change hands, questions have arisen regarding the circumstances under which these instruments can be amended or terminated. This short article outlines the current guidance on this issue and offers some drafting suggestions.
Download or read book Conservancy written by Richard Brewer and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2013-06-03 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Land trusts, or conservancies, protect land by owning it. Although many people are aware of a few large land trusts--The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, for instance--there are now close to 1,300 local trusts, with more coming into being each month. American land trusts are diverse, shaped by their missions and adapted to their local environments. Nonetheless, all land trusts are private, non-profit organizations for which the acquisition and protection of land by direct action is the primary or sole mission. Nonconfrontational and apolitical, land trusts work with willing land owners in voluntary transactions. Although land trusts are the fastest-growing and most vital part of the land conservation movement today, this model of saving land by private action has become dominant only in the past two decades. Brewer tells why the advocacy model--in which private groups try to protect land by promoting government purchase or regulation-- in the 1980s was eclipsed by the burgeoning land trust movement. He gives the public a much-needed primer on what land trusts are, what they do, how they are related to one another and to other elements of the conservation and environmental movements, and their importance to conservation in the coming decades. As Brewer points out, unlike other land-saving measures, land trust accomplishments are permanent. At the end of a cooperative process between a landowner and the local land trust, the land is saved in perpetuity. Brewer's book, the first comprehensive treatment of land trusts, combines a historical overview of the movement with more specific information on the different kinds of land trusts that exist and the problems they face. The volume also offers a "how-to" approach for persons and institutions interested in donating, selling, or buying land, discusses four major national land trusts (The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, American Farmland Trust, and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy); and gives a generous sampling of information about the activities and accomplishments of smaller, local trusts nationwide. Throughout, the book is enriched by historical narrative, analysis of successful land trusts, and information on the how and why of protecting land, as well as Brewer's intimate knowledge of ecological systems, biodiversity, and the interconnectedness of human and non-human life forms. Conservancy is a must-read volume for people interested in land conservation--including land trust members, volunteers and supporters--as well as anyone concerned about land use and the environment.
Download or read book Rethinking the Perpetual Nature of Conservation Easements written by Nancy A. McLaughlin and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the use of perpetual conservation easements as a land protection tool has grown, so have concerns regarding whether, when, and how such easements may be modified or terminated to respond to changed conditions. This Article argues that the charitable trust doctrine of cy pres should apply to donated conservation easements and, if interpreted as suggested, can provide a principled means of modifying or extinguishing easements that have ceased to provide public benefits sufficient to justify their continued enforcement (or have even arguably become detrimental to the public). The Article argues that a landowner should be viewed as striking the following "cy pres bargain" with the public upon the donation of an easement - the landowner should be permitted to exercise dead hand control over the use of the property encumbered by the easement, but only so long as the easement continues to provide benefits to the public sufficient to justify its enforcement. If, due to changed conditions, the continued protection of the encumbered land for the conservation purposes specified in the easement deed becomes "impossible or impracticable," a court should apply the doctrine of cy pres to restore the appropriate balance between the landowner's desire to exercise dead hand control, and society's interest in ensuring that charitable assets continue to provide benefits to the public. In cases where the donor evidenced a particularly strong personal attachment to the encumbered land and the continued protection of that land for a different conservation purpose is feasible, a court could apply the doctrine of cy pres to modify the easement to change its conservation purpose while continuing to protect the underlying land. Alternatively, in cases where the donor did not evidence a particularly strong personal attachment to the encumbered land, or where the continued protection of that land for a different conservation purpose is not feasible, a court could apply the doctrine of cy pres to extinguish the easement, authorize the sale of the unencumbered land, and direct that the proceeds attributable to the easement be used to accomplish the donor's specified conservation purposes in another location.
