Six years ago, a woman who owns 18 acres southeast of Cottage Grove called me as president of LandWatch Lane County, a nonprofit land use watchdog, to ask if there was anything our group could do to protect her land from the degradation wrought by her neighbor, Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, or from another owner of her property after she dies. 

I told her that we had no control over timber practices on commercial forest lands, but she might consider protecting her holdings with a conservation easement overseen by Northwest Land Conservation Trust (NWLCT), on whose board I serve.

An easement now conserves the natural features on the property she owns: the white oaks in her hillside meadow, the maples and alders, the ash and cedars, the willow and nine bark and thimbleberry along the creek that runs through them, and the creek itself. When she is no longer around to steward it, and the property changes hands, the protections embodied in the easement will run with the deed in perpetuity.

Since the establishment of the first American land trust in Massachusetts in 1891, the number of trusts has expanded to more than 1,200. Presently, land trusts have protected over 61 million acres in the U.S. 

NWLCT was established as a 501(c)3 statewide land trust in 1994 and currently has 25 conservation easements in six Oregon counties. Among its holdings are close to 500 acres in Dexter of fir forest, oak savanna and woodland, ponds and wetlands on 14 tax lots. Thirteen of these lots could have been developed with dwellings, but the owner chose to protect them with an easement that retains and maintains the natural environment. 

In Douglas County near Yoncalla, 207 acres of forest and meadow are protected in perpetuity by an NWLCT easement that is a collaboration of the owner, the trust and the Komemma, a Kalapuya tribe to whom the property has been deeded. The easement is unique in that it protects the natural features of the land with a 10-year stewardship plan, and it restores the site as a place for Indigenous peoples to use and preserve their own philosophies and cultural practices. 

For over 50 years Oregon has benefitted from a land use program that has protected its farms, forests, natural areas, open spaces and cultural sites. But that system relies on state statutes and local codes vulnerable to development interests and anti-regulation politics. 

By contrast, a conservation easement offers the means to protect the special features of a property without the need for government approval or public hearings. The landowner gains the satisfaction of knowing that the land he or she values will be protected and preserved in perpetuity. 

Conservation easements preserve Oregon’s environmental and economic resources — such as forests, wildlife habitats, scenic open space, wetlands, watersheds and agricultural lands — that would be lost if the land were fully developed for housing and commercial use. They help to achieve desired land use patterns that may be impossible to obtain through zoning or condemnation. 

The way we choose to use and preserve Oregon’s remaining undeveloped land will determine the health of our people and our environment for generations to come. Private landowners who wish to preserve the natural resources and limit future residential, commercial and industrial development of their land may do so legally through the use of conservation easements.

NWLCT works with the landowner in developing the language of the easement. When it is completed to the satisfaction of the owner, the owner grants the easement to the Trust. The document is then recorded in the office of the county clerk and thereafter is attached to the title to the land. 

The landowner continues to live on the land, retains ownership and can sell, lease, mortgage or otherwise convey title to the land, subject to the provisions in the easement. The provisions set forth in the document are binding on the current owner and all future owners, are legally enforceable and are recognized by state and federal law. 

More about conservation easements, the application process for an easement with NWLCT and easement examples may be found on our website at NWLCT.org. The trust is considering accepting new conservation easements in the Lane, Douglas, Marion, Linn and Polk counties. 

NWLCT functions with an all volunteer board, which allows it to steward more land at less cost than that typically incurred by organizations with paid staff and administrators. We are currently seeking new board members. If you think you might be interested in joining us, please refer to the membership application available on our website.

This viewpoint has been updated: The author inadvertently referred to the owners of a property with an easement near Yoncalla as the ‘Cha Tumenma’, which is the Kalapuya name of the property, not the tribe. The owners are members of the Komemma, a local band of the Kalapuya. The author regrets the error.

Robert Emmons, of Fall Creek, is the president of LandWatch Lane County and on the board of directors for Northwest Land Conservation Trust.