Natural Lands — the magazine of Natural Lands fall/winter 2020, issue 157 | Page 10

8 organization such as Natural Lands to determine a plan that permanently limits a property ’ s use . The agreement , once finalized , is binding and perpetual ; all future owners of the property must abide by it as well . The land trust then monitors the property annually to ensure compliance . That ’ s how we can say with confidence that land under conservation easement is protected forever .

In 1966 , Natural Lands completed the first ever conservation easement in Pennsylvania . Since that time , the organization has protected more than 25,000 acres of land through 427 conservation easements .

assessing value . A conservation easement is , in essence , a legal agreement , but it is an agreement that has a monetary value .

The easement ’ s value — the difference between what the land would be worth with full development rights and what it is worth without those rights — is determined by hiring a qualified appraiser .

A landowner may decide to sell the easement at either full appraised value or at a reduced cost , which may make them eligible for a charitable deduction .

finding funding . Prior to the early 1990s in Pennsylvania , conservation through easement was accessible only to very wealthy individuals who could afford to donate a conservation easement and pay for the professional fees associated with finalizing the agreement . Adequate private funding simply did not exist for land trusts to be able to offer to pay fair market value for the easement to those who would prefer to sell .

In 1993 , however , the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania established the Keystone Recreation , Park and Conservation Fund , which is funded through a small , dedicated portion of the realty transfer tax . In addition , many counties and municipalities also recognized the power of public funding for conservation , establishing their own open space funding programs . Since then , more than $ 1 billion has been invested in parks , recreation , and open space conservation .

Natural Lands uses these public funds to purchase conservation easements . Every year , the conservation services team must identify , apply for , and be awarded grant monies to cover the costs of each project . Typically , public funders will commit to pay for 50 percent of the total project expense , requiring us to seek other sources , whether public or private , to match the initial commitment .

“ Over the years , Natural Lands has gotten really quite skilled at choosing compelling land protection projects and writing persuasive grant applications ,” said Peter Williamson , who has spent the past three decades working to save open space for Natural Lands . “ Unless it