Conservation Tools

The hybrid easement document provides for both resource protection and public access for fishing. It is a tool for conservation organizations and governmental entities to build cooperative relationships with private landowners to provide conservation and recreation benefits to the public while keeping properties in the control of the owners. READ the commentary.

The Model Checklist for Real Estate Transactions helps users organize and expedite the closing of property transactions for conservation projects. It also provides a system for establishing easily referenced records for transactions.

The Model Conservation Transaction Addendum is designed for use with standard Pennsylvania Association of Realtors purchase and sale agreement forms. It addresses issues that commonly arise with conservation acquisition projects.

The Model Grant of Conservation Easement and Commentary provides users with a state-of-the-art legal document together with an expansive commentary covering alternative and optional provisions and the reasoning behind it all. Built on practitioner experiences and feedback, no easement document in the nation has benefited from more cycles of peer review. Download both the model and the commentary.

Use to provide public access to or along a waterway for fishing, boating or other recreational and educational uses. This model legal instrument may be used as a stand-alone document or may be coupled with a Grant of Conservation Easement to provide natural resource protections as well. The commentary to PALTA's Model Trail Easement Agreement doubles as the commentary to this model.

A purchase option assures the option holder of the right to purchase property at a certain price within a certain time period but without an obligation to do so. In granting an option, the landowner gives up the right to sell freely during the option period. The draft model was released for public review and use by early adopters in spring 2013.

The Model Grant of Trail Easement is brief -- one page (exclusive of signatures) as compared to nearly five for the model Trail Easement Agreement. The Grant of Trail Easement is provided in recognition that brevity is sometimes the paramount concern of landowners. If establishing certainty as to landowner and holder rights and responsibilities and other trail matters is of significant concern, the Trail Easement Agreement is the better choice. BE SURE TO READ THE COMMENTARY!

print version of the ConservationTools.org guide: The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association maintains a suite of model legal documents to help implement conservation transactions and other conservation-related activities. The accompanying commentaries contain alternative and optional provisions and explain the reasoning behind it all. 8 pages

This model grant of conservation easement is designed for permanently protecting riparian buffers along waterways to protect water quality. The commentary explains the purpose behind each provision and provides alternative and optional provisions. Be sure to review the commentary before using the model.

Download both the model document AND the commentary! The state-of-the-art model is coupled with an expansive commentary covering alternative and optional agreement provisions and the reasoning behind it all. Users can easily customize the agreement to handle a variety of potential trail types and uses. The model uses plain language and careful formatting to improve readability.

Secures long-term access through and to property for the purpose of remediating the effects of abandoned mine drainage.