Why Conserve Land with NALT?
NALT recorded its first Conservation Easement in 1995, and ever since that day NALT has continued helping landowners protect extraordinary land by employing ecological insight, land planning expertise, sophisticated mapping and innovative conservation strategies. NALT’s team is comprised of experienced natural resource experts working in partnership with a national network of advisors. Through our strategic conservation planning we offer solutions that are both visionary and pragmatic for achieving the landowner’s goals.
What is a Conservation Easement?
A Conservation Easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of land in order to protect its conservation values. Landowners continue to own and manage their land, and retain the right to sell the land or pass it on to future generations.
The purpose of an easement is to protect the natural habitat, scenic resources, or other conservation values of the property. It does this by engaging the landowner to determine reasonable limits on the number, location and size of buildings, appropriate restrictions on forestry, and prohibiting other disturbance in areas of sensitive habitat or scenic views. An easement may apply to the entirety of the property, or just a portion. Future landowners will also be bound by the easement’s terms, and the land trust shares responsibility for ensuring that those easement terms are upheld and followed.
When landowners donate a Conservation Easement, they are entering into a working partnership with a land trust—the “Holder” of the easement—that continues over time. Donating an easement requires vision, careful drafting of documents, detailed mapping, and Baseline Documentation.