A national overview of conservation easements on forestland

Conservation easements vary in the type of land they protect and the manner in which they control management of the land. A study of conservation easements acquired by private land trusts documented the differences between conservation easements and supplied information for projections about future trends. Forestland is the largest single land use among properties protected with conservation easements by the study's respondents. An estimated 5,600 conservation easements on forestland, encumbering approximately 1.5 million acres, were acquired by private land trusts through 1996. In the next five years, projections call for existing land trusts to acquire 3,160 new conservation easements on 876,000 acres of forestland. Many land trusts employ a professional staff, though, this group includes few foresters. Foresters have the opportunity to play a greater role in advising land trusts and landowners in the design of conservation easements.