Agricultural land conservation can take many forms, depending on the needs and the desire of the land owners. Even the state and the public can influence land use.

In Oregon our land use laws have attempted to protect agricultural lands. Its success has been limited. We are all aware of prime farmland that has been paved over for development. The recent public support of Measure 37, indicates that state wide land use laws may not be the only answer.

In the state of Washington the development values of agricultural lands exceed the carrying capacity of agricultural operations. When this happens it is just a matter of time until farmers and agricultural lands become another commodity that is imported from other countries.

One relatively new method of protecting agriculture and farming as a way of American life is the agricultural conservation easement. This type of easement is similar to other easements which can restrict certain actions and activities on private lands.
Agricultural conservation easements can be utilized in a variety of methods by a variety of landowners with very different needs and desires.

The state of Oregon, recently, passed laws to allow Soil and Water Conservation Districts to hold conservation easements. Pursuing an easement program for your District is a serious undertaking that requires significant commitment and planning from the board and staff. Not all districts will want or have the capacity to administer a conservation easement. Experts that work in the conservation easement field say its risky but worth it.

Why might a District want to pursue developing an easement program?

It is one additional tool that a landowner might want to use for conserve their land. Easements have the potential to lower land market values and allow new farmers to enter the field. Farmers that want to insure that their lifelong committment to working the land doesn't end with their passing may want to pursue this type of protection. Agricultural easements also have the potential to control urban expansions. These instruments also offer the potential for estate heirs to benefit even if they do not wish to follow the farmers' footsteps.

Farmers may also be able to continue farming by placing an easement on their property. If they are in need of updating their technology to continue to be competitive, the funds from the sale of deed restrictions may facilitate the survival of their lifestyle.

There are pros and cons in a District pursuing these programs. A District needs to decide what role, if any, that they are willing to undertake, and if it supports their mission. Some District may choose to just mention the option and point landowners to existing organizations. Some may decide that owning the easement, monitoring the farm and insuring that the conditions of the easement are met, is a great role for a Conservation District. Pursuing an agricultural conservation easement program requires long term thinking and often sustained relationship maintenance.

There are serious financial commitments and risks to developing and holding these land rights. The two primary methods of funding the management of these easements are through an endowment or a stewardship fund. Most experienced professionals in the field encourage the endowment method of funding. An endowment will often place a fixed sum of money into an account to facilitate the management, maintenance and monitoring of the easement.

Stewardship funds can be quickly depleted if not carefully managed and annually supplemented. With the start up costs for an easement approaching $50,000.00 the process should not be taken up by the fain of heart.

District personnel have been receiving training in the application of conservation easements. The American Farmland Trust (www.farmland.org), Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Association of Conservation Districts, with support from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board has been holding a series of workshops around the state of Oregon this year.

Don Stuart, AFT, and Neil Maine, of the North Coast Land Conservancy recently addressed a group of District Staff and Board members in Portland. Both speakers agreed that the risk and the rewards are great. Don provided most of the background issues of these endeavors and Neil offered some real world experience to the group.

The Land Trust Alliance (www.lta.org) was heralded by Don as the source to begin and help guide any groups or individuals pursuing conservation easements. He also cautioned staff and board on giving any kind of financial, legal or tax advice with a landowner. We all need to be conscience of what words we use and how we present options to clients. We don't want anyone taking easement actions without consulting extensively with their families and advisors.

Don also suggested that if a District wanted to pursue a permanent tax rate in their region, a farmland protection program might be a great marketing option. When Don mentioned the fact about farm operations not being able to compete with the development value of farmlands, it became evident that these easements may be a way to slow or even reduce this trend. If we had enough restrictive, development value reducing easements on land then we may be able to build a whole new generation of farmers.

Don mentioned other land trusts in the Metro area that might provide good partnerships for Districts. He suggested that pursuing funding for an Agricultural Easement program with an existing land trust might be easy money. He also pointed out that purchasing easements can leverage conservation protection at a much higher rate than deed acquisitions. He wondered out loud why the local service district METRO hadn't utilized easement purchase to meet some of their open space goals.

Don continued to expose the group to some of the facts of these programs. Districts are required to have public meetings when acquiring these easements. Private land trusts are not. Involving the public supports community trust building.

The Oregon Sustainable Agricultural Land Trust was mentioned as another resource.

Neil Maine offered us up some of his experience working over the last decade with the North Coast Land Conservancy ( NCLC). He acknowledged the risks and supported the rewards. Since the time of Thomas Jefferson our governments and systems have been set up to develop and utilize lands. Today many are trying to reverse that trend by removing dams, tide gates and dikes. There is a public need and desire to do this in many communities. He said that there were many a past County Commissioner rolling over in his grave when the NCLC and the County built a wetland trail at Colby Lake.

He stated that the NCLC had over 400 easements they held and budgeted for 2 days a year to monitor each.
It is important to establish a baseline for monitoring easements, to both insure conditions and recognize ecological trends.
Neil continued that his organization had tried from the beginning to be a part of the community, looking and evaluating economic and social benefits of their involvement. They helped the County and the US Army Corps of Engineers reduce some wetland impact fines and helped broker the protection of additional lands in the watershed.

He said you can't guarantee results when you begin pursuing an easement. Some projects have been completed in two months when everything falls easily into place and others have taken 10 years to complete. Some easement programs had been passed off to other land conservation groups before they were completed.

Neil and his group believe that if you try to be a good neighbor and support your community you will do good work. It is a challenge for we, as Americans who have been trained on quarterly results to think in terms of what 'perpetual' long term management associated with agricultural conservation easements might entail, but some of the community and individual benefits appear obvious.

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