Conservation Easement Process

Site Visit

In order to determine whether a piece of property has conservation potential, a site visit must be conducted. An initial site visit will be conducted by a Utah Open Lands staff member. Other visits to the property will be required in the future, and we hope this will not be an inconvenience for you.

Current Conditions / Baseline Documentation Report

In accordance with IRS regulations and in compliance with Utah Open Lands monitoring guidelines, the current condition of the property must be established through a report. The IRS stipulates that the landowner may provide this document to the Grantee organization, or our organization can put the necessary documents together. This report will consist of maps, pictures and a narrative description of the parcel. All parties must agree at the signing of the conservation easement that the baseline document serves as an accurate representation of the property. This baseline document is updated on an annual, semi-annual, or in some instances, a quarterly basis by the Grantee (UOL) to ensure that the terms of the conservation easement are enforced.

Conservation Easement Draft

A draft of the conservation easement can be done by Utah Open Lands staff, or the landowners’ attorney. Utah Open Lands insists that the landowner consult an attorney regardless of who drafts the easement. Once the easement is in draft stage, the landowner and Utah Open Lands staff will review the document, suggesting changes and applying the language to a ground proofing test of the property—primarily to insure that the easement achieves the preservation of the conservation resources on the property. A final draft is reviewed by both the landowner’s attorney and Utah Open Lands’ attorney. If the landowner chooses to waive his/her right to an attorney, Utah Open Lands respectfully requests that the landowner sign a letter acknowledging that Utah Open Lands made you aware of your right to seek legal counsel.

Title Insurance

As with any land transaction, it is important that the landowner verify that he/she has clear title to his/her property. For this purpose, we require that the landowner provide us with title insurance.

Mineral Interest

In some instances landowners may or may not be aware that they do not own the mineral estate of their property. This can be a critical issue in any tax value a landowner is interested in pursuing. If the mineral rights have been severed from the property after 1973, the landowner must obtain a geologist report indicating that the presence of any mineral of monetary interest, which could be extracted from the property, is "so remote as to be negligible." Please contact Utah Open Lands as soon as possible if this is the case.

Conservation Easement Criteria

In accordance with the provisions for conservation easements set up under 170 (h) of the IRS CODE, in order for a property to qualify for a conservation easement it must adequately protect one of five listed conservation resources criteria:

Scenic – Property that is valuable to the community as open space due to its proximity to developing areas, or its impact on a view corridor.  Established by its visibility from a major roadway; in some instances correlated with an actual vehicle count.

Historic or Cultural –Property that is valuable to a community because of its historical or cultural value or its proximity to an historically significant area.  This can even apply to a land use pattern; however, if this is the only criteria being used, National Register Designation is preferred.

Wildlife or Ecological – Property that contains endangered, threatened, or ecologically significant species, or natural systems.  This often includes wetlands and migration corridors, critical habitat as identified by the division of natural resources; however, added to this criteria is that the area be of significant size to insure that, should the property be surrounded by development, the wildlife values can be protected.

Established in accordance with a clearly delineated government policy – Property with significant agricultural or forestry resources.  Agricultural practices as defined under the Farmland Assessment Act definitely qualify; forested properties may qualify as well.

Public Recreation or Education – this has been the criteria most commonly used in establishing trails and greenways which are more significant for the connection they provide to recreational opportunities; an important component of this criteria is the fact that the public must be allowed on the property.

Conservation Investor Program

An Innovative Solution

In situations where it is not financially feasible for a land trust to purchase a property or an easement on a property and no conservation buyers exist or UOL is not interested in planning and carrying out a limited development, a viable alternative is the utilization of conservation investors. A conservation investor may be defined as an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, or limited liability corporation that acquires a key conservation property and works collaboratively with a non-profit land trust to protect the property's unique values.

What Is A Conservation Investor?

A conservation investor is an individual or group of people which has the capacity to invest substantial amounts of money in real estate and has an interest in preserving the scenic, agricultural, historic or wildlife values of a property, in addition to protecting and enhancing one's own property values (if the conservation investor's property is located near the investment property).   The goal of the conservation investor is to generate a financial return on the investment that is proportional to the accompanying investment risks, while structuring the investment so that important land conservation is achieved. In other words, their objectives are to simultaneously "do well" and "do good". The goal of Utah Open Lands is to permanently protect a threatened property, and, in certain cases, a conservation investor may be the only viable option.