Maryland Marine Notes: May-June 99 Sidebar

Volume 17, Number 3 • May-June 1999

Local Land Trusts

By Rob Etgen, Executive Director, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
And Nick Williams, Maryland Environmental Trust

Land trusts are said to have originated with a group of citizens in Stockbridge, Massachusetts who, in 1853, started a "village improvement society" - their purpose was to set aside land for public enjoyment. Local land trusts grew slowly through the 20th century; in the last several decades, however, their numbers have exploded: there are some 1,200 in the U.S., and they're increasing by about 50 a year. When it comes to local land use practices and policies around the country, land trusts are now a major player. According to a 1998 survey by the Land Trust Alliance, a national land trust umbrella organization, local and regional land trusts have saved more than 4.7 million acres of America's open spaces.

For years, land trust activity in Maryland lagged far behind other states, especially New England, with only six trusts operating prior to 1989. Today, 43 trusts are active in the state and their accomplishments are impressive. By the end of 1998, Maryland's local land trusts were directly responsible for protecting 36,530 acres of the state's endangered open spaces and natural areas, more than a three-fold increase over the 11,590 acres in 1990.

What Is a Local Land Trust?

Land trusts are generally private, nonprofit charitable corporations dedicated to land conservation. They protect land resources through a variety of techniques, most of which involve leveraging their tax exempt status. For decades, Maryland has been the beneficiary of national, regional and statewide land trusts such as the Nature Conservancy (44,000 acres protected), the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Maryland Environmental Trusts (63,460 acres). Unlike these larger organizations, local land trusts are generally formed and run by local residents; though the lands they acquire may not meet criteria of the larger organizations, they are extremely valuable on a local scale.

Some groups such as the Cecil Land Trust have been combining their land trust function with broader educational and community service goals. Others like the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy have chosen to add a land trust "arm" to an existing organization. And in western Maryland, five local trusts established an association primarily to apply for region-wide grant funding under the State's Rural Legacy Program.

The types of lands that local land trusts seek are numerous and varied. As Jean Hocker, Executive Director of the Land Trust Alliance, says, "Different trusts may save different types of land for different reasons. Some preserve farmland to maintain economic opportunities for local farmers. Some preserve wildlife habitat to ensure the existence of an endangered species. Some protect land in watersheds to improve or maintain water quality. Whether biologic, economic, productive, aesthetic, spiritual, educational or ethical, the reasons for protecting land are as diverse as the landscape itself."

Tools of the Trade

Land trusts have been employing sophisticated techniques to accomplish their goals, though common to all is a focus on meeting the needs of landowners without sacrificing the environmental or natural assets of a property. While the most obvious way to protect land is outright purchase, that has become increasingly difficult because of prohibitive land prices throughout much of the state. So land trusts have developed a variety of approaches (see "Methods for Protecting Land").

With conservation easements, the landowner and conservation organization negotiate the restrictive provisions that will both protect the environmental assets of the property and allow the landowner reasonable use. Once the terms are agreed upon, the easement is executed and recorded in the county land records. The conservation organization then begins the perpetual responsibility of monitoring the property to ensure that restrictions are not violated by either present or future owners. Because land acquisition and management costs are so high, Maryland local land trusts are placing greater emphasis on the use of donated conservation easements.

Owners of certain types of land, or land in designated areas, may also apply to sell easements to local, state and federal programs such as the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, the state's Rural Legacy Program and USDA's Forest Legacy Program.

The majority of land trust conservation easements in Maryland are donated by property owners. According to John Bernstein, Director of the Maryland Environmental Trust, which holds 478 conservation easements that protect 63,460 acres, "the primary motivation for donation of easements is the sincere desire of the landowner to have his or her land preserved for future generations." At the same time, there are also tax advantages with conservation easement donations, for instance, a charitable deduction can be taken that is equal to the fair market value of the development rights surrendered. Conservation easements are now at the forefront of techniques that land trusts use. As Jan Hollmann, former President of the Severn River Land Trust, once said, "We get perpetual protection for critical lands without the worry of changing laws and without the management cost and responsibility of land ownership."

Government Interest

Many local and state government agencies have recognized the limitations of zoning and public acquisition for protecting open space and natural areas - for this reason, they have been increasing financial support to land trusts to protect resources. With passage of the 1990 Consolidated Land Preservation Act and subsequent appropriations from the legislature, the Maryland Environmental Trust now administers a $1.5 million revolving loan fund for local land trust acquisition projects; it also provides $20-30,000 a year for small operating grants to local trusts.

Maryland's Rural Legacy Program (RLP) encourages land trusts to partner with counties in defining priority rural resource areas for easement and fee purchase protection. Local trusts such as the Carroll County Land Trust (CCLT) also negotiate easement purchases on behalf of Program Open Space, the state's primary acquisition arm for state forest and park lands.

In recent years, the Department of Natural Resources has shown increasing interest in local land trusts managing newly acquired state lands. The American Chestnut Land Trust, for example, manages DNR's Jett property in the Parkers Creek watershed.

Some counties are investigating various mechanisms to encourage and assist local trust activity. Calvert County, for instance, has established a $1 million revolving fund for local land trust acquisitions and the American Chestnut Land Trust used this fund to acquire a 140-acre farm. Meanwhile, Montgomery, Harford and Anne Arundel counties have all passed property tax credit ordinances implementing the Conservation Lands law.

Other local governments have discovered conservation easements as a way of preserving natural areas which could be sold as surplus by a changing administration. The conservation easement will maintain the property in perpetual open space regardless of future political changes. The Maryland Environmental Trust currently holds conservation easements protecting publicly owned Jefferson-Patterson Park in Calvert County, James Run Watershed in Harford County, a Charlestown waterfront park in Cecil County, a Severn River shoreline property owned by Anne Arundel County and others.

Looking Ahead

Population growth and land development in Maryland are continuing. Forests are being cleared at a rate of roughly 5,000 acres a year. The Department of Agriculture estimates that an average of 13,630 acres of agricultural land was converted to other uses each year during the 1990s; more than 24,000 acres were lost in the last two years. In addition to the elimination of natural and open space lands, unmanaged growth or sprawl has led to increases in pollution and congestion, not to mention impacts on quality of life.

The surge in local land trust activity in Maryland could not have come at a better time. With the cumulative impacts of overdevelopment and increasing awareness of the real costs of sprawl, public support is growing for more effective preservation of natural areas. Through their free market, entrepreneurial approaches, local land trusts are likely to play an ever greater role.

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