CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CONSERVATION EASEMENT STEWARDSHIP

Landowners donating a conservation easement to the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) are protecting their land in perpetuity – a very long time. For our part, MET’s obligations are equally long-term: to carry out the landowner’s intent, MET’s fiduciary responsibilities, the requirements of IRS code regarding charitable deductions, and to protect the conservation values of each property. MET is responsible in perpetuity for the monitoring and stewardship of the conservation easements entrusted to us.

Monitoring means periodic visits (advance notice provided) by MET staff or MET trained volunteers to assess the condition of the property and check for compliance with the terms and conditions of the deed of conservation easement. All of this is documented, including photographs. In the event of a potential or actual violation of the terms, a follow-up contact with the landowner may be needed, and in occasional cases some kind of enforcement action.

Stewardship involves a larger set of issues, including landowner requests for MET to approve various proposed structures or activities on the property. For some types of requests, the easement document specifies the request and approval process. Depending on the nature of the request and the wording of the document, an amendment may be called for in some cases, within the established limits of MET’s amendment policy.

Both monitoring and stewardship require considerable resources, especially as the number of conservation easements held by MET reaches and then exceeds 1,000. Expenses include staff, transportation, computers and software, telecommunications, and imaging and mapping technology. MET must maintain the capability to perform these duties 10, 20, even 100 years into the future.

Request for Stewardship Contributions

To support MET’s long-term stewardship efforts, we are asking every easement donor to consider making a monetary contribution in addition to the easement gift. The suggested contribution is $5,000 per easement donation. The contribution can be made as a lump sum at the time of donation, or in installments over a period of five years (MET can furnish a pledge agreement for this purpose). Under IRS rules, such a contribution is deductible as an expense associated with the easement gift.

One important point: the decision of MET’s board to accept any proposed easement is a matter of established criteria, and independent of the donor’s choice regarding a stewardship contribution. A potential stewardship contribution will NOT influence MET’s decision to accept, or not accept, a conservation easement.

How MET Handles the Contribution

Money contributed to MET for this purpose will be tracked by donor, MET will acknowledge the contribution in writing, and the money will be deposited in MET’s Stewardship Fund, a separate private account available only to MET. The Fund assets will not be used by any other State agency, department, or unit, nor will they be transferred to the General Fund or any other fund of the State of Maryland. The contributions entering the account will be invested and managed according to MET’s private account investment policies.

If the donor chooses to defer the stewardship fund contribution, MET asks that the donor acknowledge this in writing, using and signing a pledge agreement to pay the contribution over a period of time, preferably not exceeding five years. A copy of the pledge agreement will be maintained in MET’s financial records and in the MET easement file for the property(ies).

When the Easement is Donated Jointly to MET and Another Land Trust

MET maintains partnerships with many local land trusts, and regularly accepts easement donations jointly with another organization. In these cases MET and the partner land trust will coordinate beforehand the request for a stewardship contribution. The policy is to make one request, and the allocation of the contributed funds between the two organizations is according to prior arrangement of the partners.

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