Conservation Easements

Conservation easements are flexible tools that can be placed on all or only part of a property. With a conservation easement, the land remains in private ownership but development rights are permanently limited. Landowners continue to own and use their land, sell it or pass it on to heirs. The land is usually not open to the public. Furthermore, conservation easements often result in an income tax deduction and may reduce property and estate taxes. Conservation easements are binding to all future landowners.

The Land Conservancy of West Michigan (LCWM) makes a commitment to monitor and enforce conservation easement restrictions in perpetuity. Some common conservation easement provisions include:
  1. limited future land division
  2. preservation of wetlands, dunes or woods and
  3. designation of an unrestricted area for a home.
In addition to helping families preserve their land with a conservation easement, the Land Conservancy also has experience protecting important natural habitats that are part of “open space developments”.  The Land Conservancy can create a conservation easement for common land or greenspace that is part of a residential development if the land that is restricted has important natural features that are not degraded by adjacent development.  These preserved habitats often are a valued feature of the development and may increase home values in the future.  Developers interested in creating a conservation easement for part of their land should contact the Land Conservancy in the early stages of planning, as the Land Conservancy must ensure that the proposed conservation easement is designed to protect habitat of sufficient quality to create a public benefit.
   

Additional Information on Conservation Easements

 

Conservation Easement Success Stories
    • Jeff & Anya Byam: The Byam's had to sell their 30 acres in Muskegon County, but wanted to make certain it would never be developed.
    • Cecilia VanderBout:  Ceclia protect the last remnant of her family farm by placing on a conservation easement on her 33 acres in Kent County.  Now she can rest assured that her land will not be split up for development or mined for gravel.
    • Todd & Budde Reed:  These brothers from Mason County conserved their 200 acres along the Pere Marquette River with a conservation easement so their sons could inherit the land in its natural state.


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