One landowner’s experience with a conservation easement

Chris Hayes has nothing but positive things to say about conservation easements. It worked for him.

Hayes owns 952 acres of mixed range and forestland that spans the Sonoma/Mendocino county border. He bought the property 12 years ago to use for hunting. It had been logged in the past but his interest was in stewardship activities including a Non-industrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP) to do forest thinning.

In 1997, Hayes was looking for a tax break and decided to investigate conservation easements. He did a lot of homework, got good professional help, and was able to accomplish his objectives. He feels that everyone benefitted from the transaction. “It’s one of those situations where it’s beneficial to the landowner and the land both.”

This was a learning experience that took a bit of effort. First, Hayes had to find a land trust to take his easement. He also hired an attorney who was knowledgeable about conservation easements to go over the agreement. Since timber was a great deal of the value of the property, he worked with a forester to evaluate the forest resources and give advice on long-term management. And an independent appraiser was needed to calculate the property’s total worth.

The costs of securing the conservation easement included payments to all the professionals plus a gift to the land trust for management purposes—a charitable donation. But all those costs are tax deductible and Hayes feels he got a “good deal.”

“It’s time consuming. You have to go through a few steps,” Hayes acknowledges. It depends on how big the property is and how complicated the easement. He was under a time constraint because he wanted the tax break at the end of the year. His easement took six months to complete.

What a conservation easement actually does is devalue the property by restricting certain rights. In this case, the development rights that were given away were rights Hayes had no intention of using anyway. Twenty acres by the house were excluded from the conservation easement in case he wants to “do things” to that area in the future.

“The conservation easement is pretty specific. The land trust maps the whole property and then goes over it on the ground. They have the right to come by to check that the agreement is being followed but usually they will notify and let us know they are coming by to check. It hasn’t been invasive at all. They’ve only been up there once in three years. It all depends on the land trust, the nature of the easement, and how easy it is to come by.”

Forest management plans are built in to a conservation easement. Each one is different depending on the needs and objectives of the landowner, the land trust, and the property characteristics. Hayes retained the right to log within the NTMP.

“You can give away as much or as little as you want,” he notes. “It all depends on how you write up the easement. Basically it’s a negotiation—as long as you have something the land trust values you have leverage.”

His experience has inspired others. Since Hayes got his conservation easement, his neighbors are following suit.

His advice for others? The most important thing is to make sure you know what you’re willing to give up. Get an attorney to look out for your interests.

“For me it was a perfect match. I don’t have designs to change the property any more than it’s been changed. It hasn’t really changed my life or how I use my property.’