A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a public or private entity (e.g. localities, state and federal agencies, land trusts) that permanently limits specific future development of a property to protect publicly-beneficial conservation values. When landowners elect to donate an easement, the terms are negotiated between the landowner and the organization that will hold the easement in perpetuity.

In Virginia, the majority of conservation easements are held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), which is a quasi-state agency. As an accredited land trust, PEC sometimes acts as an easement holder by accepting a donated easement from a landowner or purchasing land to own and place under easement. In doing so, PEC becomes forever responsible for the stewardship of the property under the agreed-upon terms and restrictions of the conservation easement – even as the land changes hands.

Currently, PEC is involved with the permanent stewardship of over 80 properties in our nine-county service area. As part of our accreditation, we conduct annual monitoring visits to these properties to ensure historic, natural, scenic, scientific or recreational values are properly upheld. This requires ongoing funding through stewardship fees, paid for by the easement donor, or by funding entities such as the Piedmont Foundation.

Interested in pursuing a conservation easement on your property? Please contact Mike Kane at [email protected] or visit pecva.org/easements for more information.