The word conserve can stir up a lot of strife here in the West.
In its various forms, the word conserve also can conflict with itself. For instance, conservatives and conservationists often butt heads in turf wars over Western land management.
A classic example is ranchers and environmentalists feuding over grazing rights on U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands.
Conserve has another variation, however, and thats conservation easement. These easements can bring ranchers/farmers and environmentalists together in a win-win situation.
The Common Questions on Conservation Easements report by the Center for Collaborative Conservation at Colorado State University defines a conservation easement as follows:
A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement that a landowner (grantor) may enter into with a qualified conservation organization (grantee), restricting particular development and uses of the landowners property in order to protect certain resources. For example, agricultural conservation easements are designed to keep land available for farming or ranching and often limit non-agricultural commercial development of lands designated for agricultural use. Qualified grantees include both public (government) and private (land trust) entities. Due to limited funding opportunities for purchasing conservation easements, landowners usually choose to donate all or a portion of their development rights to a qualified conservation organization, often receiving tax benefits as a form of compensation. Many potential grantees will not accept easements that do not meet the federal tax requirements. Easements are usually perpetual, meaning they last forever. Term easements, lasting a specified number of years, do not qualify for tax benefits and, thus, are not the most popular option. Indeed, just one state permits only term easements. Every conservation easement is unique and subject to conditions agreed upon by the parties.
The Center for Collaborative Conservation notes that conservation easements arent the right solution for all landowners.
They certainly work for some landowners, though. The national Land Trust Alliance reported 37 million acres of conservation easements in the United States in the 2005 National Land Trust Census Report. The alliance is compiling results from its 2010 census for release this October.
In Montezuma and Dolores counties, the Montezuma Land Conservancy has partnered with landowners to complete 66 conservation easements that protect 30,825 acres.
On May 26, the Montezuma Land Conservancy and the Humiston family secured an easement for the familys approximately 120-acre farm on the south side of Mancos.
This conservation easement is a way to keep the land together as a single family farm and to keep it from growing houses, easement grantor Glen Humiston noted in a written statement from the land conservancy.
Managed as an irrigated hay operation, the farm has a gambrel barn and views of the La Plata Mountains. The property has soil designated as Prime Farmland by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and a portion of the senior No. 2 water right will remain with the property for agricultural use.
After the landowner and longtime Mancos resident Lois Humiston died in September 2009, her heirs agreed a conservation easement would help protect the farm.
Funds from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Natural Resources Conservation Services Farm and Ranchland Protection program made the easement possible.
Montezuma Land Conservancy works to protect properties like the Humiston farm that possess iconic views and heritage qualities that define our landscape and community in southwestern Colorado, Juniper Katz, executive director of the Montezuma Land Conservancy, noted in the written statement from the conservancy. These types of irrigated properties close to town are increasingly threatened by growth and development.
Not all properties can qualify for a conservation easement. The land conservancy notes properties might need to have values such as open space, plant and wildlife habitat, or historic significance.
The West is the fastest growing region for conservation easements. Hopefully, this alternative for land management will give ranchers/farmers and conservationists more opportunities to shake hands instead of fists.
Sources: Montezuma Land Conservancy, Juniper Katz, executive director, 565-1664, juniper@monteumaland.org, or www.montezumaland.org; Land Trust Alliance; Center for Collaborative Conservation.
Russell Smyth is managing editor of the Cortez Journal. He can be reached at 564-6030 or russells@cortezjournal.
