How do I put my land into a conservation easement?
The Land of Trust of Virginia has already helped scores of
property owners protect thousands of acres of our state's
countryside through permanent
conservation
easements. Let us help you make an important and lasting gift
to the future.
Click the links below for information on the four simple steps
it takes to put your property into easement.
Note: The landowner can change his or her mind about
the easement at any time until the easement deed is signed and
delivered to LTV. While these steps show the typical procedure,
there are situations where the order of these steps is changed.
The process may take anywhere from a few weeks to several years
to complete.
Step 1: First Contact
The landowner or his or her representative contacts LTV. LTV
sends basic information including brochure, fact sheet and basic
easement agreement to the landowner. The landowner and LTV meet
to discuss what an easement is, how it works, and whether it might
be appropriate for the landowner.
Step 2: Second Contact
The landowner or representative reviews the material, consults
with family and/or advisors, and indicates an interest in further
exploration of an easement. LTV arranges an initial site visit
to meet the landowner and view the property. Following this visit,
the landowner will usually have further discussions with family
and/or advisors.
Step 3: Preliminary Agreement
The landowner and LTV Easement Evaluation Committee reach a preliminary agreement consisting
of an identification of the parcel and the proposed terms of the
easement. The terms are based LTV's standard form of easement
(Example - generic easement). Please note that, depending on
the size and complexity of an easement, the negotiation process
can take months.
Step 4: Donation
Once the terms of the permanent conservation easement have been
approved and finalized by a meeting of the LTV Board of Directors, the landowner
and the LTV president must sign the completed agreement before a
notary public. The landowner must then record the permanent
conservation easement with the appropriate county government for
it to become effective.
Click here or call 540.687.8441 to
protect your piece of Virginia's countryside forever.
To waste, to destroy our natural
resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so
as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the
days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right
to hand down to them amplified and developed.
—Theodore Roosevelt
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