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Glossary
Appraisal - A report that provides an estimate of the fair market value of the property. Be aware that not all appraisals are equal.
Baseline Report - A document that establishes the condition of the property at the time the easement is signed and is used to measure future development against the terms of the conservation easement.
Conservancy - An organization dedicated to conserving or protecting natural resources through various means, which may or may not include the actual acquisition of land or easements.
Conservation Easement - An agreement between a landowner and a private land trust or government. The agreement limits certain uses on all or a portion of a property for conservation purposes while keeping the property in the landowner’s ownership and control. The agreement is usually tailored to the particular property and to the goals of the owner and conservation organization. It applies to present and future owners of the land.
Most conservation easements are donated by people who wish to protect a beloved place. Under certain circumstances, easements are sold at a bargain price or fair market value. Donations and bargain sales that meet IRS requirements can result in federal tax benefits.
The conservation easement is a nonpossessory interest of a holder in real property imposing limitations or affirmative obligations the purposes of which include retaining or protecting natural, scenic, or open-space values of real property, assuring its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational, or open-space use, protecting natural resources, maintaining or enhancing air or water quality, or preserving the historical, architectural, archaeological, or cultural aspects of real property.
In Pennsylvania, conservation easements assist in the preservation or restriction of the use of selected predominantly undeveloped open spaces or areas, including but not limited to: (1) the protection and conservation of water resources and watersheds, by appropriate means, including but not limited to preserving the natural cover, preventing floods and soil erosion, protecting water quality and replenishing surface and ground water supplies; (2) the protection and conservation of forests and land being used to produce timber crops; (3) the protection and conservation of farmland; (4) the protection of existing or planned park, recreation or conservation sites; (5) the protection and conservation of natural or scenic resources, including but not limited to soils, beaches, streams, flood plains, steep slopes or marshes; (6) the protection of scenic areas for public visual enjoyment from public rights of way; (7) the preservation of sites of historic, geologic or botanic interest; and (8) the promotion of sound, cohesive, and efficient land development by preserving open spaces between communities. (learn more)
DCNR - Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
Deed Restriction - Clauses or restrictive covenants, placed in a deed when land is transferred, limiting the future uses of the property. Deed restrictions may impose a vast variety of limitations and conditions. For example, they may limit the density of buildings, dictate the types of structures that can be erected or prevent buildings from being used for specific purposes or even from being used at all.
Deed restrictions differ greatly from and are usually a poor substitute for conservation easements in protecting land for public benefit. (However, they can be quite satisfactory for use by adjacent private landowners where the one property is to benefit by the restrictions on the neighboring property.) Typically in deed restrictions, no third party is granted the right to monitor and enforce the restrictions placed on the land and other safeguards are missing to ensure that the restrictions are respected. History demonstrates that deed restrictions often fail because those in support of continuing the restriction do not have legal standing to seek enforcement of the restrictions in court. History shows numerous examples of municipalities, churches, universities, hospitals and other nonprofits lacking a substantial conservation purpose getting deed restrictions lifted by a judge so that they can sell or develop a conservation-restricted property.
DEP - Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Easement - An interest in land owned by another person, consisting in the right to use or control the land, or an area above or below it, for a specific limited purpose (such as to cross it for access to a public road). The land benefiting from an easement is called the dominant estate and the land burdened by an easement is called the servient estate. Unlike a lease or license, an easement may last forever, but it does not give the holder the right to possess, take from, improve, or sell the land. The primary recognized easements are: (1) a right-of-way; (2) a right of entry for any purpose relating to the dominant estate; (3) a right to the support of land and buildings; (4) a right of light and air; (5) a right to water; (6) a right to do some act that would otherwise amount to a nuisance; and (7) a right to place or keep something on the servient estate.
An easement creates a nonpossessory right to enter and use land in the possession of another and obligates the possessor not to interfere with the uses authorized by the easement. An easement is generally affirmative in that it creates the right to make use of the land of another. A negative easement, the obligation not to use land in one's possession in specified ways, is known as a restrictive covenant.
Environmental Assessment - An environmental analysis prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act to determine whether a federal action would significantly affect the environment and thus require a more detailed environmental impact statement. (Source: http://www.epa.gov)
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - A report that documents the information required to evaluate the environmental impact of a project. It informs decisionmakers and the public of the reasonable alternatives that would avoid or minimize adverse impacts or enhance the quality of the environment. (Source: http://www.epa.gov)
Fee - The maximum degree of legal ownership of a parcel of land, sometimes called fee simple. The owner of the Fee has the right to use the land, to transfer it, to exclude others from it, and to sell it, subject to any lawful restrictions that the present or prior owners may have created (e.g., by an easement). (Source: www.sharingstewardship.org)
IRS Form 8282 - [AD] The form filed with the Internal Revenue Service by a charitable organization to report the organization’s sale or other disposition of property for which a donor has taken a charitable deduction within the past two years. Property which the organization acquired by bargain sale, or property acquired by the organization from another charitable donee and disposed of within two years of the transfer to that earlier donee, must also be reported on this form. For more information, visit www.irs.gov. (Source: www.sharingstewardship.org)
IRS Form 8283 - [AD] The form filed with the Internal Revenue Service by a donor to report information about non-cash contributions (e.g., land and conservation easements) in excess of $5,000 for which the donor claims a charitable deduction. The donee organization completes a portion of this Form acknowledging receipt of the contribution.
Land Trust - A nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land, in the public interest, through land transactions - primarily the purchase or acceptance of donations of land or conservation easements. Most land trusts are private charitable corporations. Some land trusts are governmental or quasi-governmental agencies that operate with much of the flexibility and freedom of a private land trust.
Monitoring - The process by which the easement holder regularly conducts
property inspections to ensure that the conditions of the conservation
easement are being upheld. These inspections are often conducted on an
annual basis. (http://attra.ncat.org)
Monitoring Report - Documentation of the results of a Monitoring inspection of a Conservation easement. Land trusts should keep there reports in a permanent file.
PDA - Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
PFBC - Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission
PGC - Pennsylvania Game Commission
Restrictive Convenant - A private agreement, usually found in a deed or lease, that restricts the use or occupancy of real property, especially by specifying lot sizes, building lines, architectural styles, and the uses to which the property may be put. Some restrictive covenants, such as race-based restrictions on transfers, are unenforceable but do not necessarily void the deed.
Right-of-Way - The right to cross property to go to and from another parcel. The right of way may be a specific grant of land or an easement, which is a right to pass across another's land. The mere right to cross without a specific description is a "floating" easement. (Source: http://dictionary.law.com)
Sales Agreement [AD] The document expressing the final terms of the purchase and
sale, signed by all of the sellers and buyers. (Source: www.sharingstewardship.org)
Servitude - An umbrella term for all types of promises that are binding on future landowners as well as the landowner making the promises. So both easements and restrictive covenants are included within a single concept.
Servitudes create rights and obligations that run with the land. Running with the land means that the right or obligation passes automatically to successive owners or occupiers of the land or the interest in land with which the right or obligation runs. Rights and obligations that run with the land are useful because they create land-use arrangements that remain intact despite changes in ownership of the land. Servitudes permit the creation of neighborhoods restricted to particular uses, providing a private alternative to zoning; they permit property to be used as a basis for financing infrastructure, providing a private alternative to taxation; and they permit the creation of stable arrangements for shared use of land, providing an alternative to acquisition of fee-simple interests for transportation corridors and natural-resource exploitation. Although these are the most common uses of servitudes, they are not exclusive. Servitudes may be used for any purpose that is not illegal or against public policy. Servitudes are widely used in land development because they can be individually tailored to meet the needs of particular projects. They are widely used for roads, utilities, pipelines, and natural-resource exploitation because they are less expensive than acquisition in fee.
A conservation servitude is a servitude for conservation purposes. Conservation purposes include retaining or protecting the natural, scenic or open-space value of land, assuring the availability of land for agricultural, forest, recreational or open-space use, protecting natural resources, including plant and wildlife habitats and ecosystems, and maintaining or enhancing air or water quality or supply.
Stewardship Fund - A monetary fund established to support land management activities on protected property. Stewardship Funds may be established for individual protected properties or more commonly are created by pooling stewardship contributions in a single account for easy administration and investment. Organization policies on stewardship fund expenditures and investments generally emphasize protection of the principal, as well as identify when and under what circumstances withdrawals from the fund are allowed. (Source: www.sharingstewardship.org)
Survey - A document that indicates the Boundary lines and dimensions of the Protected Property, or a portion of it, and the location of buildings or other improvements on or near the Protected Property. Any Survey should be prepared by a licensed surveyor. The Survey often forms the basis for the Legal Description in a Deed or other instrument of conveyance. (Source: www.sharingstewardship.org)
Watershed - The land area that drains into a stream; the watershed for a major river may encompass a number of smaller watersheds that ultimately combine at a common point. (Source: http://www.epa.gov)
Watershed Association - An organization dedicated to the protection and safeguarding of a designated watershed.
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