Optimize Conservation Easements
who are considering conservation easements. He offers six tips to consider when exploring a conservation easement.
1. Easements are a tool, simply put. They work in some instances, but not all, Six tips offered to get the most out of he warns. They can be used to pay down conservation easements. debt, diversify revenue, expand operations by Kasey Brown, associate editor, through 1031 exchange transactions, help Angus Beef Bulletin Extra with generation transfer and preserve the onservation easements are tools, but family legacy. they need to work correctly to accom- 2. Choose partners and plish their goals. Most producers don’t contractors wisely. want the federal government as a longPartners can include a land trust, a govterm partner, says Erik Glenn, executive ernment agency or tribe; attorney; director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agri- accountant; financial advisor; or funders. cultural Land Trust. Glenn says there has Contractors can include an appraiser, facilbeen significant demand from producers itators and others. Make sure you are
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comfortable with any and all partners and contractors. 3. There are producer-centered land trusts. There is a Partnership of Rangeland Trust (PORT), which is an alliance of agricultural-focused conservation organizations dedicated to preserving America’s working farms and ranches and conserving productive agricultural lands. The partnership includes ag-focused trusts in California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Visit https://rangelandtrusts.org/ for more information. 4. Structure matters. Who will be the grantor, Glenn asks — an entity or individual? Who is the easement being conveyed to? Is it a 501(c)3, tribe or
