Conservation easements may offer substantial financial and tax benefits to landowners. For example, land trusts often purchase conservation easements outright for fair market value. Under current tax laws, landowners can also donate conservation easements and receive a tax deduction on their federal income taxes (some states also allow state income tax deduction or credit).  The financial benefits of conservation easements along with their perpetual duration has made them one of the most effective means of permanently protecting and preserving land in its natural state. Consequently, virtually every land trust has a program for the acquisition and monitoring of conservation easements. The most common use of a conservation easement is to prohibit residential or commercial development so that the land may remain in its natural state. In many, if not most instances, the conservation easement is drafted so that the landowner can continue to use the land as it has always been used, for example as an open space.  For more information on conservation easements, follow these links: Land Trust Alliance Conservation Easement Webpage; Ohio State University Fact Sheet on Conservation Easements

Conservation Easement Examples

(If you have difficulty opening a link, please try closing previously opened links.  If you have difficulty opening an MSW file, try the PDF version or look for the MSW macro enabling dialog box.  If you continue to have difficulty, please report this to olmsted@landprotect.com. Please note that these easements have not been reviewed and are from different states.  These easements should not be used as model easements.  Instead, these easements should be used as examples of easement provisions for discussion purposes.  Any easement or easement provisions should be reviewed by an attorney with experience in the field of conservation easement negotiation and drafting.  Please contact Jim Olmsted if you have any questions.)

(Note: to avoid clutter, only one window at a time may be open.)

(In Aphabetical Order by State)

CE Paragraph Databank
Created and maintained by Ann Schwing
http://www.mhalaw.com/mha/newsroom/cedatabank.htm

Climate Change Provisions
Created and maintained by James L. Olmsted
[These provisions may affect the tax consequences
of conservation easement donation; attorney review is
absolutely recommended]
Climate Change Provisions

Weeks Bay Foundation
Fairhope, Alabama
Recorded Deed of Conservation Easement

Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara, California
Midland School (2008)(2,727 acres)
Las Flores Hunt Property (2009)(654 acres)

Conservation & Preservation Counsel, L.L.C.
[This California easement contains new language,
including new perpetuity preserving language.
See yellow highlighted text & comments.]
Annotated CA Conservation Easement 3.30.10

The Cultural Conservancy
Deed of Cultural Conservation Easement
Cultural CE

Wood-Land-Lakes Resource Conservation and Development, Inc.
Angola, Indiana
Donated Easements
Woodland, Wildlife CE
Agricultural CE

Maine Coast Heritage Trust
MCHT.CETemplate (2010) MSW
MCHT.CETemplate (2010) PDF

Sweet Water Trust
Boston, MA
Forever Wild Conservation Easement
SWT Easement Forward (2010)
SWT Model Easement (2010)

Finger Lakes Land Trust
Ithaca, New York
FLLT revised CE Template- 2009 Final

NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund
Raleigh, North Carolina
2010 sample conservation easement

Western Reserve Land Conservancy
Novelty, Ohio
Basic Template

Ontario Heritage Trust
Ontario, Canada
OLTA Annotated Cons Agreement

Pennsylvania Land Trust Association
Pennsylvania Conservation Easement (download)
Trail Easement Agreement (download)
Fishing Access Agreement (download)
Water Quality Improvement Easement (download)
Riparian Forest Buffer Protection Agreement (download)
Download the above documents.
Trail Easement Agreement & Commentary (2nd Ed.)

South Kingstown Land Trust
Wakefield, Rhode Island
CE Template

The Land Trust for Tennessee
Form of Conservation Easement-Land Trust for Tennessee

Virginia Outdoors Foundation
Multiple Offices
Easement Document Pages (2010)
VA Open Space Land & Conservation Easement Acts
Virginia Open Space Land Act
Virginia Conservation Easement Act

The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, Inc.
West Bend, Wisconsin
Lee Curtes Conservation Easement