Exacted Conservation Easements

Exacted Conservation Easements PDF Author: Jessica Owley Lippmann
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conservation easements
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description

Exacted Conservation Easements

Exacted Conservation Easements PDF Author: Jessica Owley Lippmann
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conservation easements
Languages : en
Pages : 578

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Enforceability of Exacted Conservation Easements

The Enforceability of Exacted Conservation Easements PDF Author: Jessica Owley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The use of exacted conservation easements is widespread. Yet, the study of the implications of their use has been minimal. Conservation easements are nonpossessory interests in land restricting a landowner's ability to use her land in an otherwise permissible way, with the goal of yielding a conservation benefit. Exacted conservation easements arise in permitting contexts where, in exchange for a government benefit, landowners either create conservation easements on their own property or arrange for conservation easements on other land. To explore the concern associated with the enforceability of exacted conservation easements in a concrete way, this article examines exacted conservation easements in California, demonstrating that despite their frequent use in the state, their enforceability is uncertain. The three California statutes governing conservation easements limit the ability to exact conservation easements. California caselaw, although thin, indicates that courts may be willing to uphold exacted conservation easements even when they conflict with the state statutes. This examination of the California situation highlights California-specific concerns while providing a framework for examining exacted conservation easements in other states. This article illustrates not only challenges of enforceability that arise with exacted conservation easements, but uncertainty in their fundamental validity and concerns about public accountability. This exploration illustrates that enforceability is not straightforward. This raises significant concerns about using exacted conservation easements to promote conservation goals, calling into question specifically the use of conservation easements as exactions.

Landowner's Guide to Conservation Easements

Landowner's Guide to Conservation Easements PDF Author: Steven Bick
Publisher: Kendall Hunt
ISBN: 9780757502279
Category : Conservation easements
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Protecting the Land

Protecting the Land PDF Author: Julie Ann Gustanski
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 612

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Book Description
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a property owner and a conservation organization, generally a private nonprofit land trust, that restricts the type and amount of development that can be undertaken on that property. Conservation easements protect land for future generations while allowing owners to retain property rights, at the same time providing them with significant tax benefits. Conservation easements are among the fastest growing methods of land preservation in the United States today. Protecting the Land provides a thoughtful examination of land trusts and how they function, and a comprehensive look at the past and future of conservation easements. The book: provides a geographical and historical overview of the role of conservation easements analyzes relevant legislation and its role in achieving community conservation goals examines innovative ways in which conservation easements have been used around the country considers the links between social and economic values and land conservation Contributors, including noted tax attorney and land preservation expert Stephen Small, Colorado's leading land preservation attorney Bill Silberstein, and Maine Coast Heritage Trust's general counsel Karin Marchetti, describe and analyze the present status of easement law. Sharing their unique perspectives, experts including author and professor of geography Jack Wright, Dennis Collins of the Wildlands Conservancy, and Chuck Roe of the Conservation Trust of North Carolina offer case studies that demonstrate the flexibility and diversity of conservation easements. Protecting the Land offers a valuable overview of the history and use of conservation easements and the evolution of easement-enabling legislation for professionals and citizens working with local and national land trusts, legal advisors, planners, public officials, natural resource mangers, policymakers, and students of planning and conservation.

Environmental Preservation and the Fifth Amendment

Environmental Preservation and the Fifth Amendment PDF Author: Beckett Cantley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Successful preservation of environmentally and historically significant property requires the utilization of various innovative land conservation strategies. The government has three alternative land conservation strategies, including (1) using the police power to issue environmental and land use regulations; (2) the use of the eminent domain power over environmentally sensitive lands; and (3) the use of conservation easement programs. The government's use of its inherent police power to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens extends to state and local governments the ability to use zoning and land-use regulations for environmental purposes. Typically, these regulations are used broadly as part of a comprehensive land use plan. The federal government has the power to make environmental laws based on its constitutional powers over commerce and treaty making. However, land use and environmental regulations are often politically difficult since such regulations interfere directly with a private landowners' use of his or her property. Land use and environmental regulations also have the potential to rise to the level of a Fifth Amendment regulatory taking, requiring the payment of just compensation for the loss of property rights by the government to the property owner. Federal, state, and/or local governments may use eminent domain to acquire fee simple title to lands it seeks to preserve. However, the government's use of the eminent domain power may be expensive relative to other alternatives, since just compensation for the land may be high and the eminent domain process may result in long and expensive litigation. Inadequate public funding for acquisitions and political unpopularity also may limit the use of eminent domain. Conservation easements often represent a more politically palatable alternative for land preservation. Despite the inherent incentive problems associated with conservation easement donations, the use of easements as a land conservation method is increasing at an incredible rate - mostly due to the Federal and state tax benefits associated with the donation of conservation easements. Landowners are typically motivated to donate conservation easements by the landowners' desire to forever preserve the character of the land and to receive tax breaks in the forms of state tax credits and/or federal deductions for “qualified conservation contributions”. While most currently created conservation easements are donated, many land trusts and governmental entities are also in the business of purchasing them. Conservation easements may also be created by the use of eminent domain, or by way of exaction. “Exacted” conservation easements generally arise where the government requires that a landowner donate a conservation easement in exchange for the government approving a permit or zoning variance application. While donations and sales of conservation easements are likely to avoid the requirement that the government pay the property holder just compensation, such compensation may need to be paid where the landowner brings an action for inverse condemnation following the creation of an exacted conservation easement. The use of conservation easements can raise constitutional issues where the government seeks to create the easement by way of regulation or exaction. In this article, the author: (1) provides an overview of the different systems of land control; (2) analyzes the ability of a landowner to argue that a regulatory taking has occurred where government land use and/or environmental regulations have greatly diminished the property's value; (3) specifically discusses the landowner's ability to grant or sell a conservation easement as a potential source of value to the landowner that could negate the finding of a sufficient diminution in value necessary to be considered a compensable Fifth Amendment taking; (4) addresses the government's ability to garner a conservation easement through the exercise of its powers of eminent domain; (5) discusses regulatory takings issues specific to conservation easements acquired by exaction and failed government attempts to acquire such conservation easements; and (6) discusses the question of whether the government may exercise its powers of eminent domain to condemn a pre-existing conservation easement held by another government entity.

Reinventing Conservation Easements

Reinventing Conservation Easements PDF Author: Jeff Pidot
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description
No recent happening in land conservation rivals the rapid expansion of conservation easements and the related growth in the number of land trusts over the past 15 years. Among the forces driving this phenomenon are tax and other public subsidies and the view that the conservation easement is a win-win strategy in land protection. The thesis of this policy focus report is that conservation easements are a valuable land protection tool, complementing regulation, land acquisition, and tax policies, but that reforms are needed in tax and other laws and conventions governing easements, lest we risk losing the public benefits for which the easements were established.

Development of a Method to Monitor and Enforce Exacted Conservation Easements by Local Municipalities Using GIS

Development of a Method to Monitor and Enforce Exacted Conservation Easements by Local Municipalities Using GIS PDF Author: Patrick Walsh-Vernetti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conservation easements
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Saving the Ranch

Saving the Ranch PDF Author: Anthony Anella
Publisher:
ISBN: 1559634731
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Saving the ranch is a concise guide to conservation easements for ranchers, conservationists, and developers concerned with protecting the natural and scenic values of ranch lands in the western United States. The book shows how ranchers can reduce estate taxes, generate and shelter income, and combine land conservation with estate planning. Case studies explore how conservation easements have been used, helping readers to understand the variety of circumstances under which easements can be effective. Throughout the book, photographs, maps, and color illustrations bring to life the examples presented and the situations described.

Conservation Easements

Conservation Easements PDF Author: David J. Dietrich
Publisher: American Bar Association
ISBN: 9781614381136
Category : Conservation easements
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Conservation easements permit the use of land to be donated or sold as part of an estate plan. For those considering an easement donation or sale, an understanding of the statutory, regulatory, and common-law principles involved is imperative, as well as a working knowledge of how to use the available resources in this complex field. This hands-on guide features an invaluable collection of techniques and drafting tips learned from decades of conservation easement practice plus four actual conservation easements.

The Changing Landscape of Conservation Easements

The Changing Landscape of Conservation Easements PDF Author: Amy Wilson Morris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description