Conservation Easement Where our easements are located 

                                     Click here for more detailed information about our easements and preserves

Establishing a Conservation Easement - A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust, or conservancy, which contains permanent restrictions on the use or development of land in order to protect clearly defined conservation values, such as wildlife habitat, scenic or open space, prime farmland or historical significance. It limits but does not necessarily prohibit all development. For example, there may be a provision for some future land splits to allow home sites for family members.

There may be tax benefits. Donation or sale of an easement at less than fair market value to a qualified conservancy may be treated as a charitable gift of the development rights, and may be deductible on the landowner’s federal income tax return. There may also be estate tax benefits or property tax benefits based on the reduction in the value of the land as a result of the permanent restriction on future development.

A conservation easement “runs with the land.” It is not eliminated by a change in ownership. It is filed with the Register of Deeds and its existence will show up any time a title company, lender or individual does a title search of the property. Along with this permanence comes a responsibility for the conservancy, the easement holder, to monitor the land to ensure the terms are being met, and to protect against any violations. This creates a burden on the conservancy to ensure the time and expense to conduct the monitoring and the funds required to defend the easement in any necessary court action are permanently available, but this is both our promise to the grantor and our legal responsibility as the grantee.

It is also important to know what a conservation easement does not do. It does not, by its nature, allow public access. The landowner still controls who does and does not have access to his/her land. It does not prevent the transfer of ownership. A landowner can sell or lease the land if he wishes, but the terms of the easement remain in effect. Finally, an easement does not restrict any property rights that don’t negatively impact the conservation values of the easement. For example, a landowner can lease hunting rights or farming rights or otherwise continue to do whatever he/she wishes on the land, subject to the terms of the easement.

If you would like more detailed information about conservation easements or our preserves, call the office at (989) 644-5045, or email us at info@ChippewaWatershedConservancy.org.

Chippewa Watershed Conservancy - P.O. Box 896 - Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804-0896 Ph. 989-644-5045

Email contact - info@ChippewaWatershedConservancy.org