• A conservation easement is one of the most powerful, effective tools available for the permanent protection of private land. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust that limits certain uses of a property in order to provide permanent protection from development for land having important natural values such os open space, animal habitat, biodiversity, or others.

• Conservation easements are perpetual: they are recorded with the county clerk and run with the land, even if it changes ownership.

• Easements can be designed to protect wildlife habitat, productive agricultural land, scenic open space, cultural resources, and recreational resources.

• The owner retains the full right to use and enjoy the land, and to sell it or convey it by gift or by will, but the owner and his or her (or their) successors remain bound by the terms of the easement in perpetuity.

• The easement must be donated to a qualified tax-exempt conservation organization which will monitor and enforce the easement in perpetuity. We are partnered with the Santa Fe Conservation Trust in all of our easements.

Click here to view the Santa Fe Conservation Trust’s Guide to Conservation Easements.