Conservation Tools

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.

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!

A model legal document and accompanying guidance to help users in obtaining the "subordination" of a mortgage to a conservation easement.

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.

Provides the necessary tools to make sound decisions on the discovery and selection of priority access points, acquisitions of keep properties, and the design and develoment of new or improvements to existing facilities.

Online trails resource maintained by American Trails. Includes a wealth of resources on design, accessibility, impact studies and more.