Conserve Your Land
How to conserve your land
Since it was established in 1976, Mendocino Land Trust (MLT) has successfully protected forty thousand acres of land throughout Mendocino County. MLT has partnered with dozens of private landowners to help them achieve their conservation goals, whether it be preventing development, donating public preserves, or protecting forests, open space, agricultural land, meadows, watersheds, and wildlife habitat.
Whether you continue to own and live on your land or whether you donate your land to MLT for permanent conservation, as a landowner you have the ability to secure critical public benefits provided by protected land, such as clean water and air, habitat for plants and animals, and healthy local food.
Land conservation can be expensive—but if your property is large enough, is uniquely threatened by development, or is home to important natural resources, there are funding opportunities that can help cover the costs. And donating land or donating a conservation easement can provide significant tax benefits for many landowners.
If you are interested in protecting your land, please contact us. Below are the ways we partner with landowners:
A Conservation Easement (CE) is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust that permanently limits the amount and types of future development and uses that may occur on a property, thus protecting its conservation values such as natural habitat, open space, and agriculture. The land continues to be privately owned and managed by the landowner and can be sold or passed down through inheritance, but can never be subdivided or sold as separate parcels.
MLT’s experienced staff can guide you through the conservation easement process, which includes discussing your vision and goals for the land, visiting the property to help you develop a conservation plan, conducting a title review, and other due diligence. The process of creating a CE, and ensuring the protection of your land forever, can be expensive. Because of this cost, CEs are generally only appropriate for properties at least 50 acres in size. For some especially compelling properties in need of protection, MLT can work with you to research potential grant funding sources to pay you for the value of the CE and the transaction costs involved. MLT will then work with you to craft a CE that is specifically tailored to your property and your conservation goals.
To find out more, please use the form below or call the MLT office at (707) 962 – 0470.
Check out this brief video to learn what conservation easements are, how they work, how they can benefit you, and why they make a lasting difference!