Managing Conservation Easements in Perpetuity - Environmental ...

Think about It
What is the purpose of your land trust’s easement records system? Take a
moment to jot down any words or phrases that describe your land trust’s
purpose for keeping documents related to the conservation easements it
holds. We will return to your notes later to see how you might use these
thoughts to develop your recordkeeping purposes, policy and procedures.
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This process will help your organization establish its recordkeeping
procedures and ensure they accurately reflect your land trust’s needs
and capacity.
Easement transactions can be divided into two parts: pre-closing work
and post-closing work. Creating two major recordkeeping categories
that reflect the two parts of land conservation projects can be useful
for a number of reasons. For example, some projects start but are never
completed or may take 20 years to close the deal; your land trust will
need to be able to track records relating to such transactions over time.
In addition, records needs are different prior to closing than after closing.
For example, prior to closing, you should keep all drafts of the
conservation easement deed as a reference while you negotiate the
agreement, but after closing, most litigators recommend purging all
drafts and only retaining the final document.
Creating divisions within these two main categories can also be helpful
for document management. Within the pre-closing work, your
land trust might decide to have systems to track prospects, a system for
those projects that are actively progressing to closing and a system for
tracking those projects that are dead or dormant. For more information
on recordkeeping related to land transactions, see the Land Trust
Alliance course “Acquiring Land and Conservation Easements.”
Recordkeeping 33
Itemizing each step in your land
trust’s conservation easement
development process can help you
identify what records you need,
for how long and for whose use.
After closing, most litigators
recommend purging all easement
drafts and only retaining the final
document.