I have worked for a rural California land trust for
five years, and wanted to respond to Mr. Gerber’s comments in
his letter to the editor, “Caveats on easements” (HCN, 4/26/04:
Caveats on easements).
I wholeheartedly agree with his
suggestion that landowners think long and hard before placing
conservation easements on their property. Conservation easements
are designed to be permanent, and it is no minor decision for a
family to encumber their property with one.
However, Mr.
Gerber implied that rogue land trusts could easily slap further
restrictions on a parcel after the conservation easement is in
place. This is not true. A conservation easement can only be
amended with the consent of the landowner — whether it is the
original easement donor or any future landowner.
Second,
the standard conservation easement language is critical — and
has been developed over 20 years by teams of property, tax and real
estate attorneys and land-trust practitioners from across the
country. If you include a “no assignment” clause, then there is no
provision for the future, should the original land trust become a
new entity (e.g., if it merges with another land trust) or goes out
of business entirely — and you lose assurance that your
easement will be enforced in perpetuity.
Ultimately, land
trusts are community-based organizations. Staff, trustees,
volunteers, members and financial supporters are neighbors with
those who have conservation easements on their land. The integrity
of the organization rests with the trust that is built between the
organization and the community. Land trusts would not last long if
their goal was to steal property rights. If any land trust does
become too “rogue,” the state attorney general can step in to take
legal action against the land trust. Conservation easements are not
a panacea, and may not meet every landowner’s needs. But I
would hope that if Mr. Gerber gave his local land trust another
chance to address his fears, or talked to neighbors who had
conservation easements on their land, he would find most of his
fears unfounded.
Vanessa
Johnson
Napa,
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Don’t be afraid of easements.
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