Category Archives: FAQ

Call the Montezuma Land Conservancy at (970) 565-1664 or email them at: info@montezumalandconservancy.org.  MLC can assist you in all phases of the easement process.

Download our Landowners’ Conservation Easement Guide (PDF)

• Legal/Financial Advice. It is recommended that a landowner obtain legal and financial advice from independent, experienced professionals to ensure proper structuring of the easement for land protection and tax purposes.
• Title Report, Mineral Remoteness Letter and Survey. A title commitment is always required and can cost from $300 and up.  A mineral remoteness report is required when the landowner does not own the underlying mineral rights and can cost from $360 and up. A survey is sometimes, but not always, required to determine the exact boundaries of a conservation easement and/or to determine the boundaries of building areas within an easement.

To qualify for federal and state tax benefits, a conservation easement must be donated in perpetuity to a qualified conservation organization “exclusively for conservation purposes,” and satisfy the “conservation purposes test” described above.  The value of a qualifying conservation easement can be deducted from federal income and used as a credit against Colorado income tax. The easement can also result in an estate tax reduction and estate tax exclusion. Conservation easements can reduce property taxes as well.

The value of a conservation easement is generally estimated as the difference between the market value of the property unencumbered (“before”) and the market value of the property subject to the easement restrictions  (“after”), as determined by a qualified appraiser. For example, the “before” market value of a highly developable property is the amount a person would pay for the property with the intent of developing it under existing and/or likely market conditions. (Note that “before” value is not the sale price of the developed lots.) The “after” market value is the amount a person would pay for the property, knowing that it is permanently restricted from some or all development. There is usually (but not always) a substantial difference between the before and after values, and the difference is the value of the conservation easement.

Montezuma Land Conservancy is here as a service organization to landowners.  We visit with landowners to provide information and hear about their vision for their land.  If landowners wish to, Montezuma Land Conservancy will assist the landowner will all phases of the conservation easement process and make sure that the easement is effective.  Read more...

Any landowner may give an easement, provided the property has conservation values that meet federal and state criteria for conservation purposes and public benefit.  If the land is owned jointly or partially, all owners must consent to placing an easement on the land.  If the property is mortgaged, the landowner may need to obtain an agreement from the lender to subordinate its interests to those of the easement holder. A conservation easement may be conveyed to a public agency or to a conservation organization that qualifies as a public charity under Internal Revenue Code 501c (3). The recipient organization is required to have adequate resources to enforce the terms of the easement in perpetuity.

Only permanent (perpetual) conservation easements can qualify a donor for federal and state income and estate tax benefits. A conservation easement runs with the land, binding not only the landowner who gives the easement, but all future owners as well.  The easement is recorded in the county’s land records, so that future owners and lenders will learn about the restrictions when they obtain title reports.

A landowner who grants a conservation easement does NOT have to open the property to the public.  Some landowners convey certain public access rights, such as fishing or hiking in specified locations.  Others do not.

, while ensuring that conservation values of public benefit are protected.  Sometimes this totally prohibits new construction and sometimes it doesn’t.  If the goal is to protect farm or ranch land and keep it in productivity, an easement may restrict subdivision and development while allowing for structures and activities necessary for and compatible with the agricultural operation.  If the goal is to preserve a pristine natural area, an easement may prohibit all construction outside of a pre-determined “building envelope” as well as any activities that would alter the land’s present natural condition.  However, even the most restrictive easements permit the continuation of historical uses of the land.

In order for a conservation easement to confer state and federal tax benefits to the landowner, it must meet theconservation purposes test as described in the Treasury Regulations.  Specifically, a conservation easement must be designed to protect one or more of the following conservation purposes:  Read more...

1. the preservation of open space, including farmland and forest land that a) provides for the scenic enjoyment of the general public, or b) is pursuant to a clearly delineated government conservation policy, provided, in each case, that such preservation will yield a significant public benefit;
2. the protection of a relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, plants or similar ecosystem;

A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement made between a landowner and a qualified conservation organization such as the Montezuma Land Conservancy. The easement protects land with conservation values that are significant to the public—for example: agricultural land, significant wildlife and/or plant habitat, and scenic open space.

To understand how conservation easements work, think of owning land as owning a bundle of rights. A landowner can give away or sell the whole bundle or just one or two of those rights—the right, for example, to subdivide the land. Exactly what the landowner gives up, and what she or he keeps, is spelled out in the terms of each conservation easement. 

 Conservation easements are extremely flexible and tailored to the individual property and the landowner’s wishes for the land.  An easement can protect any or all of conservation values that the landowner chooses: farm and ranch land, water rights, wildlife or plant habitat, and scenic views.  The conservation values are protected by limiting the subdivision and development rights on the land.  In return, the landowner gets the satisfaction of having protected the land—and sometimes receives cash or important tax benefits as well.