Feather River Land Trust | What We Do, Our "Tools"


	By 2005, through both conservation easements and outright purchase, land trusts such as The Nature Conservancy and the Feather River Land Trust have conserved roughly 5.2 million acres of private land in the Western United States.

The Feather River Land Trust primarily uses two tools to accomplish its mission: fee title acquisition and conservation easements.

1) Fee title acquisition.
Direct acquisition works best when a landowner does not wish to continue to own the property but wants to protect sensitive resources, wildlife species and habitats, and a wide variety of public uses are desired. In these cases, the Trust directly acquires land from willing landowners and manages these properties for the public benefit.

Fee title acquisition is an ideal choice when the Trust wants to ensure public access to a particular property or we believe it is vital to have control over how the property will be maintained, for example, protecting a unique wildlife habitat or preserving a Native American cultural site.

2) Conservation easements.
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a willing landowner and the Trust that protects a land's conservation value by permanently limiting its uses. Owners who create conservation easements often receive substantial tax benefits.

The ABCs of conservation easements.

Conservation easements work best when landowners want to continue to own and manage their property — the easement becomes part of the property title in perpetuity and the Trust ensures that the terms of the easement are honored by current and future owners. Under a conservation easement, the property can be sold, leased or kept in agricultural production and bequeathed to heirs. In many cases, the rights to subdivide and develop a property are limited or extinguished by a conservation easement, as are other potentially harmful rights, such as the right to conduct large-scale mining.

The landowner continues to own the land that is subject to the conservation easement, while the Trust is charged with monitoring the property to make sure its resources are being protected and that the terms of the easement aren't being violated.

Conservation easements can be tailored to protect important wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, agricultural land and a land's rural character, while also allowing the landowner to continue working the land. Generally, conservation easements do not allow public access to the property unless specifically permitted by the landowner.

Learn more about conservation easements from LTA's booklet "Conservation Options: A Landowner's Guide". To acquire a copy call the FRLT office.


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