Conservation Tools

When should one amend a conservation easement? What changes are appropriate? What changes are not? What factors should one consider? How is a change to an easement's overarching conservation objectives different from a change in the restrictions and other administrative terms established to advance those conservation objectives?

What can one learn from past mistakes? What are the risks of action — and inaction? What should an amendment policy look like?

Conservation easements are intended to last — to endure and protect important resources, no matter people’s whims through the years. However, circumstances change; understandings of how best to meet easement objectives change; the world changes. As the number and age of easements increase, landowners and easement holders will increasingly find cause to consider modifications to the restrictive covenants and other adminstrative terms set forth in the granting documents that established the easements. Less frequently, they will find cause to consider changes to the heart of a conservation easement -- its overarching purposes or objectives. How can easement holders make ethical, legal, sound and practical decisions about such modifications? 

Audubon At Home (AAH) and its Bird Habitat Recognition Program (BHR) provide techniques for: (1) improving backyard habitat at any property scale, and (2) increasing the understanding and appreciation of the connection between human-influenced landscapes and the conservation of common birds. These programs are managed by Audubon Pennsylvania.

AAH offers tools and techniques through its website audubonathome.org and direct, professional trainings and assessment to property owners. Its purpose is to assist property owners to alter or improve land use in ways that invites nature. AAH presents a perspective that allows a harmonious and beneficial existence of people with natural, native plant and wildlife communities.

Participants may utilize the resources that AAH/BHR provides, including: web, personal contact (such as Audubon Advisors and public presentations) other avenues of communication, partnership programs with Audubon Chapters and other environmental organizations. Newly-gained knowledge may influence personal choices that are intentionally ecological and support bird populations in urban, suburban, and rural communities.

When accepting a conservation easement, a holder is responsible for ensuring the eased property’s conservation values are protected in perpetuity: the holder must uphold the easement’s conservation objectives forever. Proper stewardship of conservation easements includes regular site monitoring visits, responding to landowners’ questions about the easement, maintaining positive relationships with landowners, building relationships with new landowners, ensuring easement violations are appropriately resolved, responding to landowners’ requests to exercise reserved rights, and amending the easement when necessary.

This guide helps readers better understand the options and costs associated with these stewardship activities. The average costs and average amount of staff time needed presented in this guide are based on an internet search and are composed mostly of averages found in sample stewardship cost calculators. Readers should be aware that sample size for this data is small and readers will need to estimate costs based on the specificities of each easement.

The digital spreadsheet that accompanies this guide can help readers to estimate the stewardship costs associated with a project and identify the investment needed to finance the stewardship.

This guide is based on the publication “Creating Sustainable Community Parks and Landscapes, 2nd Edition” and was created to outline the benefits of enhancing the natural resources in local parks and other landscapes, to maintain these areas in a sustainable manner, and to provide a step-by-step guide to help staff and volunteers achieve those results.

GPS can be useful for conservation organizations and local governments for monitoring their conservation easement holdings and managing their land preserves. GPS enables users to record positional data in the form of points (e.g., location of a tree or property corner), lines (e.g., a trail) or areas (e.g., a lake). Users can record the locations of any property features that they consider useful for conservation planning such as wildlife habitat units, fences, topography, soil erosion problems, invasive species and easement violations. The recorded data can be imported into Geographical Information System (GIS) software, enabling users to create highly accurate maps of their conservation holdings. Users can also use GPS to quickly re-identify in the field the precise location of previously recorded features. 

Invasive species can impact the values for which land is conserved. Natural lands are not fully protected unless they also are managed for the features that first motivated preservation. Invasive species can change community structure, composition, and ecosystem processes on these lands in ways that may not be anticipated or desirable. Careful management can minimize these negative impacts.

Invasive species management programs should identify resources worth protecting and ecological threats to them. A plan should identify goals, objectives, and strategies for the land.  

The program described in the Main Description below assists landowners and land managers to develop and implement a management program for controlling invasive species. The methodology focuses on plants, but a similar approach can be used for other pest species. The techniques employed adhere to the principles of Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM). IVM practices reduce the need for pesticides, promote healthy ecosystems, and provide measurable results, such as greater natural species diversity and better control of invasive species. Management options for IVM may include biological, chemical, cultural, manual, and mechanical techniques, as well as controlled burning.

Conservation organizations and other charities are not automatically exempt from paying taxes on real estate; nor are local governments. Park and open space lands held by charitable organizations and local governments are often granted exemption from property taxes, but these lands are not automatically exempt from taxation. If exemption is desired for a parcel, the charitable organization or local government must apply for exemption for that specific parcel. Exemption for one or many parcels does not guarantee exemption for others owned by the same entity.

Pennsylvania’s Recreational Use of Land and Water Act limits landowners’ liability for personal injury or property damage if they make their land available to the public for recreation free of charge. Landowners may further limit their liability using the other tools outlined in the guide Reducing Liability Associated with Public Access.

Pennsylvania’s Recreational Use of Land and Water Act and other statutes provide substantial protection from liability to landowners who permit the public to come onto their land for outdoor recreation. These protections also apply to holders of trail and other easements. The best defense for landowners and easement holders, however, is preparedness: posting signs, obtaining releases, requiring indemnity, securing insurance coverage and taking steps to warn users of potentially dangerous conditions. This guidance discusses a variety of legal and other means to avoid or minimize liability.

COMING IN MID-2013