Texas Natural Resources Code Chapter 183 allows for conservation easements and specifies rules concerning such easements. Texas Legislature Online, http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/LG/content/htm/lg.012.00.000395.00.htm#395.001.00 (visited 7/24/07). See also, Texas Parks and Wildlife, A Guide for Texas Landowners, www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0022.pdf (last visited 7/25/07) The Texas Forest Service, in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, runs a program that involves the purchase of development rights, the Texas Forest Legacy Program, to protect environmentally important forestlands. Texas Forest Service website, http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=115 (last visited 7/25/07),

Case Study, Texas: City of Austin, Water Quality Protection Lands - Austin voters supported a $65 million bond initiative to improve the city’s water and wastewater system through the acquisition of land and easements over the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs contributing and recharge zones. This stated goal geographically narrows the scope of the program and, to date, approximately 12% of the total recharge zone area and 7% of the total contributing zone area is under the city’s conservation policy. Funding is used not only for the purchase of easements and land, but for management, maintenance and monitoring of the properties, and education and planning. Operating costs are considerably higher for fee-simple lands that are owned directly by the city because easements transfer the responsibility of managing to the property owner. While there is a “Recommended Land Management” handbook of best management practices which serves as a reference for developing land use agreements, each conservation easement is an individually tailored and negotiated agreement. Because of the critical nature of these legal agreements, staff considers that the resources available though the municipality, such as legal services, are advantageous to protecting the conservation easements. Future steps for the program include continuing to purchase agreements and lands and implementing a management plan on those lands, integrating with other city departments and development projects, and working with stakeholders on recreational and access plans. Sources/References: Graduate student paper on file with Dr. Robert Paterson of UT Austin, personal communication with Kevin Thuesen, Program Manager

Case Study, National: Piedmont Environmental Council, Albemarle County, Virginia Initiative - The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) is a 35 year old non-profit organization that is dedicated to a variety of regional issues such as sprawl, farmland protection, watershed and environmental quality, and promoting heritage and rural life. Conservation easements have been used by PEC to protect more than 292,000 acres in the Piedmont region to preserve open space and minimize development. While the PEC initiates and promotes conservation easements, the organization is not in the business of holding the easements. Virginia Outdoors Foundation, a quasi-governmental organization with their own governing body appointed by the governor of Virginia, maintains and manages the conservation easement program. VOF has legitimacy and the ability to develop standards and apply a comprehensive planning approach to conservation easements. A variety of economic benefits including federal tax incentives and state and local tax credits make the Virginia conservation easement program one of the most generous in the nation for landowners. Additionally, a supportive state General Assembly is considering the expansion of a state matching program to assist local and regional governments with the purchase of open space and easements. The conservation approach taken by PEC and Virginia relies on promoting the enactment of local controls and planning initiatives first and -parcel-by-parcel land or easement acquisition second. Promotion of these controls and initiatives occurs through assistance to local government planners and educational ordinance and zoning programs. Agricultural and forest zones which often result from this process require less money to be spent protecting individual properties. Conservation easements are considered to be the last defense to reducing development impacts that these strategic planning initiatives do not address. Sources/References: Graduate student paper on file with Dr. Robert Paterson of UT Austin, personal communication with Rex Linville, Land Conservation Officer for Albemarle and Green Counties.

A Guide for Texas Landowners — “This guidebook is intended to help Texas landowners understand one of the most flexible and effective means available to conserve and protect private property — the conservation easement. A conservation easement is a legal agreement that ensures a property will be managed according to the landowner’s wishes for years into the future and may also qualify the landowner for tax benefits. Every conservation easement document is individually crafted and reflects the special qualities of the land protected and the needs of the landowner.”