The Conservation Easement (or Conservation Agreement, or Deed of Conservation Easement)

What is A Conservation Easement?
It is a legal document agreed to by a landowner and some qualified conservation organization or public agency. Once it is completed, it becomes a public document on file at the County Registry of Deeds.
The purpose of the Conservation Easement is to stipulate ways in which the property in question will be protected in its natural, undeveloped state. Such preservation provides benefits, conserving open space, protecting the contours of the land, maintaining wildlife habitat, and preserving natural resources. A Conservation Easement stipulates uses to which the land can be put in the future as well as restrictions upon its use. Typically, the restrictions involve such matters as amount and nature of future subdivisions, type and amount of construction that will be allowed in the future, and so on. Other kinds of stipulation may also be included.
Some other facts about Conservation Easement: A landowner can put a portion of their land under Conservation Easement and leave the rest unrestricted. while a Conservation Easement can be time-limited, it is more common for it to be an agreement in perpetuity. The substantial tax benefits that the owner enjoys when the property is put under Conservation Easement almost always apply only to agreements in perpetuity.

What Happens to Ownership?
When an owner puts property under Conservation Easement they do not relinquish ownership of the property; they merely give up those development rights that are specified in the Conservation Easement document to which they have agreed. The property continues to be owned by them and therefore can be bequeathed to heirs, subdivided (only in accordance with the terms laid out in the Conservation Easement document), built upon (again,only in accordance with the terms laid out in the Conservation Easement document), mortgaged, even sold. Just like the landowner who entered into the Conservation Easement, new owners, heirs, etc. will be bound by the terms set out in the Conservation Easement document. The terms of the Conservation Easement "run with the property." It is the duty of the conservation organization or public agency that entered into agreement with the landowner to enforce the terms of the agreement on the property.
It is easy to see why each Conservation Easement document must be specific to the particular property is it designed to conserve and will therefore have its own unique terms.

When Can a Conservation Easement Be Created?
A Conservation Easement can be created at any time, during the owner's life time or, as a part of estate planning, through their will or testamentary trust.

Are There Different Kinds of Conservation Easements?
Actually, no. Each Conservation Easement is a specific agreement and is therefore unique. But there are three main ways that Conservation Easements are usually configured.
First, a landowner may simply decide at any time that they want to put all or a portion of their property under Conservation Easement. They may then (perhaps with the help of SRA and/or their local land trust) contact conservation organizations or public agencies that might be interested in entering into a Conservation Easement agreement with them.
Second, the landowner may inquire about whether a conservation organization or public agency has access to, or is aware of, money available to purchase a conservation agreement on their property. This second way, of arranging a Conservation Easement is the same as the first except that the agreement includes the added dimension of exchange of money for the owner's agreement to enter into a Conservation Easement. (The availability of money for this purpose is limited,and there are eligibility requirements for property to be considered for purchase of a conservation agreement.)
Third, a Conservation Easement may be worked out as a part of the landowner's will or testamentary trust. It goes into effect after the owner's death, when the will or trust is executed--that is, the heirs to the property are bound by the terms of the Conservation Easement. This arrangement will significantly lower any estate tax that the heirs may have to pay as a part of inheriting and thus can serve to keep together property whose value is such that iot otherwise would have to be divided or sold for tax purposes.
There are many other variations upon the form of the Conservation Easement.

What To Do
If you decide to explore the possibility of creating a Conservation Easement on your property, the best first step is to contact your SRA contact person (Steve Sloan at steve.sloan@wachovia.com) and/or the local land trust for our areas, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (http://www.appalachian.org/). They will help you through the several-step process involved.

Contacts:
Local Land Trust: Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy - 828-253-0095
SRA Contact for Conservation Easements: Steve Sloan at steve.sloan@wachovia.com

Resources:
From the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy "Introduction to Conservation Easements, rev.", "SAHC Project Selection Criteria", "Steps in The Process of Donating a Conservation Easement". For copies email the Conservancy at sahc@appalachian.org.
For information on the tax benefits of Conservation Easements, see Voluntary Conservation Agreements: An Introduction for North Carolina Land Owners, p. 8. This brochure is distributed by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and is available at their web site www.ctnc.org. Your SRA contact will have copies as well.
For further resources, see the "Useful Contacts" pages at this web site