Conservation Easements

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that ensures the permanent protection of a property’s natural characteristics, while allowing landowners to continue to live on, utilize, and enjoy their land.

CLC has worked with landowners to create 156 easements, protecting 21,980 acres. We have step-by-step instructions on how you can protect your land.

REASONS TO PLACE EASEMENTS

• Desire to protect land’s rural character, and its natural resources
• Prevent unwanted uses and incompatible development when selling a portion of the land
• Ensure that family lands remain intact for future generations
• Build consensus about the future of family land from one family generation to the next
• Reduce estate taxes and ease the financial burden of passing property on to heirs
• Help balance open space and development in the county
• Receive income and property tax benefits
• Create or expand Neighborhood Conservation Blocks – protected lands that can conserve wildlife corridors, support important wildlife habitats, and sustain agriculture and forestry.

Whatever the reason, protecting land is truly one of the finest legacies a person can leave to a community and future generations. CLC will help you learn about the different land protection options and their associated tax benefits.