Frequently Asked Questions
Are you are interested in exploring conservation options within the Beaverkill Valley watershed?
We partner with landowners, community organizations, and municipalities throughout the Beaverkill Valley region. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions we encounter when talking with community members to help facilitate this conversation.
If you have additional questions, please email info@beaverkill.org.
Why do people conserve their land?
People conserve their land for a variety of reasons. For some, it’s peace of mind. They want to ensure that no matter who owns the land in the future, their land will retain the special character they love.
Others want to conserve the land for the sake of wildlife, ensuring that there will always be places for them to roam, raise their young, and thrive.
Then there are those who love the Beaverkill Valley and want to ensure that its streams run clear, its forested mountains stay intact, its local farms remain part of the community, and the history of this special place is honored for years to come.
Interestingly, some landowners are conserving their land as part of their desire to address climate change. They recognize that land conservation helps to slow down climate change impacts by reducing haphazard development that could increase soil erosion, vegetation and biodiversity loss, and the degradation of the region’s wetlands and waters.
And for some people, land conservation is a way to address family estate planning, avoiding confusion as to what will happen to the land and potentially avoiding estate taxes or capital gains.
How do people conserve their land?
There are two primary routes to land conservation:
Sell or donate your land to the Beaverkill Valley Land Trust with the goal of making it part of the state park system, or as specially managed areas for wildlife and trails.
Partner with the Land Trust to put your land under a conservation easement, which enables landowners to keep their land but ensure it will never be developed in a way that isn’t compatible with their conservation goals. Landowners can still sell, gift, or otherwise transfer the land, knowing that the conservation easement is transferred with the deed, and protects the land forever.
What is a conservation easement?
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently protects land by limiting incompatible uses and future development. Each conservation easement is tailored to the goals of the landowner and the land’s unique conservation attributes. For example, some easements limit the amount of construction, tree cutting, or other development of the land. Others may include requirements to protect the historic appearance of specific buildings or areas, protect farmland, or require trees and other vegetation to screen areas along roadways in order to conserve scenic and rural character. Easements allow landowners to adopt conservation rules for their land that go above and beyond the local zoning or building code, with the goal of long-term environmental and historic protection.
Conservation easements are legally-binding documents that are attached to a specific parcel of land, and when that land is sold or otherwise transferred (to heirs, for example), it travels with the deed, ensuring the future owners and residents on the land adhere to the conservation goals outlined in the easement.
What are the benefits of a conservation easement?
Conservation easements benefit both people and wildlife by protecting local habitat, water quality, scenic views, local farms, and places to hunt, fish, and enjoy other outdoor recreational activities for those that own the land.
In certain instances, a landowner that grants the conservation easement to the land trust may be entitled to a federal tax deducation. In New York, there is also an annual state tax credit available for properties under conservation easement. Visit DEC website to learn more about the tax credit.
What is the process for conserving my land with a conservation easement?
Our team will work with you to clarify your conservation goals for the property. As part of the process, we will visit the property to better understand its important landscape characteristics.
Once we have outlined the overall approach and you’ve decided to move forward, we will conduct a title search. This helps us proactively resolve any issues that you may not know about.
We will then draft a conservation easement reflecting your conservation goals. We will also document the current conditions and the specific resources that are being protected by the easement, referred to as a baseline documentation report.
The finalized easement and baseline documentation report are then signed by both the land trust and you as the landowner.
What are the costs associated with establishing a conservation easement?
While each property and situation are unique, the general costs associated with a conservation easement include title search, appraisal, closing/legal review, and creation of the baseline documentation report.
Additionally, landowners conserving their land with a conservation easement are requested to make a tax-deductible contribution to our land trust’s Stewardship and Legal Defense Fund so that we can ensure the terms of the easement are respected over generations.
What happens after my conservation easement is in place?
A stewardship representative from our land trust will visit your land each year to ensure that the land is being maintained in accordance with the terms of the easement.
We are also available and always happy to schedule a time to answer your questions outside of these onsite visits. Please email us at info@beaverkill.org.
What if I want to make changes to my property after there is an easement in place?
Please notify BVLT by emailing info@beaverkill.org if you decide to build, renovate, or cut healthy trees on your property, and we will determine whether the project is significant enough to require a full development review. Our development review process is outlined here:
As soon as BVLT becomes aware of a development proposal, determine whether the applicable conservation easement places time constraint on review.
Request that the property owner submit a development concept that BVLT will review and provide feedback on concerning consistency with the applicable conservation easement.
Prepare draft assessment that notes potential issues with the current proposed development concept; discuss draft assessment with legal counsel, if necessary.
Share draft development concept with outside architectural firm, if necessary, and revise draft assessment based upon firm’s input.
Send out development concept assessment to property owner and schedule a meeting, whether in person or over Zoom, to discuss the development concept.
If property owner agrees to requested changes, review revised concept for conditional determination pending receipt of architectural renderings.
Upon receipt of architectural renderings, including grading plan, review for final determination. If determined to be consistent with the applicable conservation easement, issue final written determination.
Before construction may commence, property owner must contact BVLT to schedule site visit with BVLT representatives to verify that building envelope and elevation conform to approved grading plan.