For every yin there is a yang.  These opposing forces and realities are present, also, in the grant of conservation easements. In recent years these fine and primary tools of private conservation have suffered a few black eyes. But like guns, it is not the weapon that harms; it is the person behind the trigger.

There are those who have attacked easements because of political expediency. Heaven forbid "rich people" should gain tax breaks for preserving in perpetuity and giving up valuable property rights. There are those who have lambasted easements because their knowledge of easement grants is (put kindly) limited or faulty. There are those who have attacked easements and certain types of grantors because of jealousy, envy, personal grudge, and other ulterior motive. Of course the huge majority of these detractors and pundits have never enhanced, or preserved, even a single acre of land anywhere, anytime, in their life.

Conservation easements, bottom line, should result in perpetual conservation of ranch, rural, agricultural, or wild lands with REAL CONSERVATION VALUE. There is nothing wrong with intelligent, creative, carefully planned and phased easement grants with or without reserved rights, on wild, ranch and agricultural lands. However, real conservation value does not include golf courses, cemeteries, or full on subdivision of every available acre with the only donated property right being timbering limited to ten per cent of tree cover. Real conservation value does not include giving a park away to a governmental entity of jurisdiction in the platting process, only to try to take two bites of the apple by attempting to claim tax benefit via overlayment of a conservation easement grant over that same paltry greenbelt.  One cannot donate, at least with any significant tax benefit, what has already been given away. A grantor cannot greedily over value the gift of the easement, nor ignore reducing the gift by the enhancement factor--the rule that remaining lands not subject to easement are increased in value by the original grant. This is self apparent! 

The above glaring examples of attempted manipulation of easements, motivated by both ignorance and intention are true. Colorado and Virginia, to name a few states offering tax credits over and above federal deductions, have cracked down on these types of abuses.

To those of you who have worked hard to create real conservation value, kudos. To those of you consumed by greed which has undermined this great conservation tool, shame on you. And to those of you who have written on this subject without knowledge, and for ulterior motive which undermines overall real conservation, first go back to journalism school, and second, buy five, or ten, or twenty, or however many acres, enhance the resource, and donate all or a portion of the rights to it in perpetuity. Then you might be qualified to pen an article.