Managing Conservation Easements in Perpetuity - Environmental ...

considering an amendment and the possibility of additional stewardship
endowment requests if the amendment increases VLT’s stewardship
responsibilities. As written, it does not meet all the elements of
Practice 11I because it does not require compliance with any funding
requirements, nor does it address the role of the board.
Conservation Easement Amendment Policy, Society for the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests (page 242)
The Society revised its amendment policy after publication of Amending
Conservation Easements: Evolving Practices and Legal Principles, and
the new policy contains all the critical language recommended. The
policy is brief and does not address many practical details or elaborate
on any of the more complex issues, such as the four corners question.
The policy also does not reference any separate procedures. Consistent
with the attorney general advisory in New Hampshire, the policy does
state that any amendment must be satisfactory to the attorney general’s
office. The Society also has an internal set of procedures that it
follows for each amendment request. These procedures are not made
public; potential amendment requesters do not know all the steps
in the process where there may be an opportunity to exercise undue
influence.
Sample Conservation Easement Language Permitting
Amendment and Discretionary Approval, Discretionary Approval
Letter as Alternative to Amendment, Informal Discretionary
Approval Letter (page 243)
The first document, prepared by Karin Marchetti Ponte for the Maine
Coast Heritage Trust, offers sample easement language that may allow
a land trust to issue a discretionary approval for landowner activities in
certain circumstances, rather than an amendment. The second document
(also prepared by Karin Marchetti Ponte) and third document
(prepared by VLT) are discretionary approval letters,permitting certain
activities not addressed in an easement and limiting those activities to
ensure they do not adversely affect the conservation values or purposes
of the easement. Discretionary approval letters can be used as an alternative
to an easement amendment in appropriate circumstances.
Sample Waiver Letter, Vermont Land Trust (page 247)
This sample letter identifies a minor violation, indicates the violation
has been thoroughly documented and permits the landowner to
continue a small portion of the activity in question while remediating
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