The easement is either voluntarily donated or sold by the
landowner and constitutes a legally binding agreement that
limits certain types of uses or prevents development from taking
place on the land in perpetuity while the land remains in
private hands. Conservation easements protect land for future
generations while allowing owners to retain many private
property rights and to live on and use their land, at the same
time potentially providing them with tax benefits. In a
conservation easement, a landowner voluntarily agrees to sell or
donate certain rights associated with his or her property –
often the right to subdivide or develop – and a private
organization or public agency agrees to hold the right to
enforce the landowner's promise not to exercise those rights. In
essence, the rights are forfeited and no longer exist. An
easement selectively targets only those rights necessary to
protect specific conservation values, such as water quality or
migration routes, and is individually tailored to meet a land