Conservation easements are coming under increased scrutiny from Congress and the Internal Revenue Service. Pressure is intensifying on easement holders to guarantee monitoring and enforcement of easements in perpetuity.

Against this backdrop, AFT convened a roundtable meeting on March 21, 2005, with support from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to examine easement stewardship programs around the country. Land trust representatives, NRCS staff, local and state farmland protection program representatives and Land Trust Alliance (LTA) staff attended the meeting. A follow-up session based on the roundtable discussion is planned for the 2005 LTA Rally. The following white papers, which describe participants’ easement stewardship programs, are available on the FIC Web site:

1. Reducing the Cost of Conservation Easement Stewardship by Engaging Landowners in Easement Compliance Self-Certification – Land Trust of Virginia
2. Conservation Easement Stewardship Program – Minnesota Land Trust
3. Easement Stewardship for Landscape Scale Conservation Easements – Legacy Partners, LLC
4. Vermont Land Trust Stewardship Systems
5. Easement Stewardship Systems – Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
6. Easement Stewardship – Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation
7. Comprehensive Stewardship in the Upper Snake River Valley – Teton Regional Land Trust