Conservation Easements
What is a conservation easement?
Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements that landowners grant to permanently restrict the uses of their land to preserve its valuable resources. An interested landowner works with a conservation group such as the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) to craft a deed of conservation easement that lays out what’s special about the land and the restrictions that will protect it. Conservation easements are NVCT’s most common, most effective way of protecting land.
The landowner retains typical rights of property ownership, such as whether and what to farm, selling the land, and passing it on to heirs. The restrictions in the easement are tailored to protect the unique natural assets of the land. Conservation easements usually limit division of the land, future construction, removal of forest, earth moving, commercial uses, and what can take place in high-value resource areas such as stream corridors, historic sites, or scenic parts of a property.
Each conservation easement deed is recorded at the county courthouse. From then on, Trust staff members visit the property annually and work with the current and future landowners to help them uphold the conservation easement.
The Process
While each deed of easement is tailored to the land it covers, the process of an easement stays much the same. The place to start is a conversation between the landowner and the Trust. We’ll discuss your goals for the land, its special resources, and how best to tailor a deed of conservation easement (or other conservation strategy) to the land.
Landowners are responsible for certain steps, such as title work, an appraisal, and bringing their mortgage holder on board. The Trust’s staff takes care of other steps in the process, including baseline documentation, local comprehensive plan review, and review by the Board of Directors. The Trust asks landowners to make a gift to help cover the costs of perpetual stewardship of the conservation easement.
But, the work does not stop there...
Stewardship
caring for conserved land
After a conservation easement deed goes to record, it’s permanent for all current and future owners of the land. The Trust has the obligation to make sure that the conservation easements it holds are more than words on paper – that they truly result in perpetual protection of the land and its important natural, historic, or scenic resources.
Trained staff members make annual visits to each property. During visits, they check in with landowners, document the current conditions of the protected areas, and help landowners ensure that their plans align with the conservation restrictions. This process is called stewardship. The Trust welcomes landowners to join us for property visits.
Stewardship specialists are always available to review conservation easement deeds with landowners, answer questions, and help make sure that activities on the property (such as tree work, construction, or other changes) are consistent with the terms in the conservation easement deed. They can help guide landowners to professionals for technical advice and find creative solutions where needed.