Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a Conservation Easement?
2. What is a Land Trust?
3. If there is an easement on my property, does the land trust have control of my property?
4. How much will I save on my income taxes if I donate a conservation easement?
5. What about public access? If I have an easement on my land, can anyone come hunt there?
6. How much will an easement be worth?
7. Will an easement lower my property taxes?
8. What if my children want to build a house on the land, or I want a hunting cabin?
9. What if I change my mind?
10. How do I know that the land trust will last forever?
1. What is a Conservation Easement?
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between the landowner and the land trust which protects the environmental value of the property by restricting the way the land can be used (including development). The landowner retains the right to sell the land, but the easement will always remain with the land, protecting it from development in perpetuity. Conservation easements generally reduce the value of land because development rights have been restricted.
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2. What is a Land Trust?
Land Trusts are not-for-profit organizations that work to conserve land through conservation easements or acquisitions. They vary greatly in size and may be made up of both volunteers and staff. The number of land trusts in the United States is increasing, but we are losing land to developers faster than we can protect the wetlands, forests, and scenic vistas in our communities.
Land Trusts adopt guidelines to operate in the public's interest by conducting solid programs for land transactions and stewardship. The newly formed Land Trust Accreditation Commission will provide independent verification of a Land Trust's ability to operate in an ethical, legal and technically sound manner and ensure the long-term protection of land in the public interest. K/RLT is taking part in this accreditation process.
View the latest Land Trust Standards and Practices document here: Land Trust Standards and Practices
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3. If there is an easement on my property, does the land trust have control of my property?
Organizations holding easements have responsibility to make sure the terms of the easement are being honored, but they do not have control over or ownership of any part of the property.
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4. How much will I save on my income taxes if I donate a conservation easement?
That question has no one general answer. Easements need to be appraised by a professional appraiser, who will determine the value of the property without an easement, then the market value of the property once the easement has restricted land use on the property. The difference of the two is the value of the easement—a non-cash gift to a non-profit. Depending on each individual's tax profile, that value may make a significant difference in his Federal income tax that year. If the easement does not change the value of the property very much—say it protects wetland bird habitat that was not very marketable as development property, anyway—the impact on one's tax return may be small.
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5. What about public access? If I have an easement on my land, can anyone come hunt there?
This question has no one answer; it will depend a good deal on the purposes of the easement and, if a conservation easement has been sold to a land trust, the funding sources the land trust used to help make that purchase. Generally speaking, donated easements are better tools for protecting land and prohibiting public use than purchased easements are. But, if one donates an easement for educational purposes—for a nature center, for instance—it would not follow to prohibit public use of the land! If a landowner donates an easement because he is concerned about a special view or endangered species, that easement may well prohibit public access. Easements purchased using funds from the Knowles-Nelson State Stewardship Fund usually do require public access, because public funds are helping support conservation of that property.
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6. How much will an easement be worth?
Professional appraisers determine the value of conservation easements. They will determine the value of the property without an easement, then the market value of the property once the easement has restricted land use on the property. The difference of the two is the value of the easement.
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7. Will an easement lower my property taxes?
That question has no one general answer. Easements need to be appraised by a professional appraiser, who will determine the value of the property without an easement, then the market value of the property once the easement has restricted land use on the property. The difference of the two is the value of the easement—a non-cash gift to a non-profit. Depending on each individual's tax profile, that value may make a significant difference in his Federal income tax that year. If the easement does not change the value of the property very much—say it protects wetland bird habitat that was not very marketable as development property, anyway—the impact on one's tax return may be small.
Many landowners hope that recording a conservation easement on their property will reduce property taxes. That is not always the case. The rules governing property tax assessment in Wisconsin require only that assessors 'consider' the effect of the easement. In some cases, assessments have not changed, in others they have been reduced. For more discussion see The Impacts of Conservation Easements on Property Tax in Wisconsin (pdf).
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8. What if my children want to build a house on the land, or I want a hunting cabin?
Many easements allow for some building. Easements are very flexible tools! If you are considering an easement, it is helpful for to discuss with your family what goals you have for the property so that all those hopes are communicated at the beginning and the easement can accommodate those long-term visions.
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9. What if I change my mind?
Conservation easements are not good tools for landowners who are not completely sure they want to protect conservation values on their land forever. They can be extinguished only by the power of imminent domain—condemnation of the land for public purposes like a road or powerline. They last "in perpetuity" and bind all future landowners to protect the conservation values on the property. Easements have proven to be very durable legal instruments.
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10. How do I know that the land trust will last forever?
Forever is a long time, and the honest answer is that no one can know if a land trust will last in perpetuity. However, all conservation easements should designate alternate easement holders, so that should the land trust holding an easement cease to exist, another organization has already agreed to hold the easement and take responsibility for it.
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