Open space preservation not only benefits the environment and enhances quality of place, it can also benefit residents when it comes to tax time. It often costs a municipality less to buy selected open land than for residents to pay the higher taxes that result from development to build additional schools, to improve roads and to increase municipal services. Some studies have indicated that when a community buys and preserves land rather than allowing houses on every farm field, they break even on their investment within a few years.
This page explains the many ways that open space preservation can benefit your community.

Increased Property Values - When we preserve open space, we make our communities more desirable places to live by enhancing:

  • Attractive settings
  • Wildlife and natural area accessibility
  • Recreational opportunities
  • Environmental education possibilities

Seizing these opportunities increases the property values surrounding the preserved space.

Corporate Relocation-Many reports indicate that a high quality of life attracts new businesses, which in turn build a local economy. Land preservation improves quality of life by providing access to:

  • Natural settings
  • Convenient health-enhancing activities
  • A calming visual respite from a busy work environment

Visitor Services/Travel Industry-According to the travel and tourism industry, more people take weekend and weekday trips rather than extended vacations. Open space and parks provide unique resources that draw visitors to community businesses, thus creating revenue. Communities along parks and trails can provide revenue-generating visitor services, including:

  • Recreational equipment sales and rentals
  • Special events
  • Food
  • Lodging
  • Convenience items

Expenditures by Residents-Busy families enjoy recreation leisure activities. Recreation expenditures account for substantial portions of family spending for things like:

  • Biking
  • Hiking
  • Physical fitness/health
  • Camping
  • Fishing
  • Photography
  • Sailing
  • Equestrian uses
  • Driving
  • Environmental education courses
  • Scientific study
  • Special events

Public Cost Reduction-By selectively conserving open space and parks rather than permitting intensive development, local agencies can reduce costs for public services such as sewers, trash, water, and roads. The cost of providing these services to development often outweighs any revenue to local governments resulting from an expanded tax base. Buying open space also costs less than paying the increased school tax that results from adding more families to a community.

Community Cultivation-Preserved open space not only enhances a community's physical appearance, it also defines an area's character. Montgomery County has so much natural beauty that deserves to be preserved. When a community comes together to preserve something they can all share in, its residents discover ways to:

  • Appreciate history and make others aware of its value
  • Improve family cohesion
  • Take pride in local heritage and culture
  • Establish a preservation legacy
  • Improve public health
  • Encourage volunteerism
  • Explore stewardship and environmental ethics


1. What is a conservation easement?

A conservation easement protects and preserves scenic open space and natural lands without placing actual ownership of the land in the hands of a government or private agency. The landowner who donates an easement gives up the right to develop the land, now and in the future, but still maintains ownership of the land. The easement gives the development rights to a group, such as Montgomery County Lands Trust, that enforces the easement's terms and prohibits development in perpetuity.

2. Why do people donate conservation easements?

People donate easements to preserve land from development. There are also tax advantages to donating an easement.

3. What kinds of land can be protected by a conservation easement?

Woodlands, wetlands, meadows, farmland, endangered species habitats, scenic areas, natural areas, wild and scenic rivers, historic areas, and any other type of undeveloped land can be protected

4. Does Montgomery County Lands Trust accept all easement offers?

Montgomery County Lands Trust assesses each conservation easement offered for donation and visits the site, researches its conservation values, and decides whether to accept an easement offer. We welcome your invitation for Montgomery County Lands Trust to consider accepting a conservation easement.

5. What are the advantages of donating a conservation easement?

For people who have a strong desire to conserve their land, an easement can assure them that their land will never be developed. Because tax laws consider easements charitable deductions, potential tax benefits from donated easements may include a:

  • Property tax reduction
  • Federal estate tax reduction
  • Reduction of federal income taxes for a period of up to sixteen years (only for conservation easements completed by the end of 2007).

6. Will an easement grant the public access to my property?

No, an easement does not grant the public access to your land, unless you choose to allow it.

7. If I donate an easement, do I still own the land? Am I responsible for maintenance?

Yes, you still own the land; you have only given up the development rights. However, you are still responsible for the land's maintenance.

8. Can land under a conservation easement be sold or inherited?

Yes, the land can be bought, sold, and inherited the same as all other land; however, the easement runs with the land and binds all present and future owners to the easement's terms and restrictions in perpetuity.

9. Can I still live on my land if I donate an easement?

Yes, you can still live on easement land. The easement may allow you to:

  • Add and modify existing structures
  • Construct accessory and farm structures
  • Log, in accordance with accepted forestry practices
  • Maintain normal agricultural practices

10. What activities does an easement allow and prohibit?

Conservation easements generally encourage natural, agricultural, and forestry land uses. They normally prohibit the following types of uses:

  • Commercial, industrial, and residential development
  • Dumping waste materials
  • Erection of billboards
  • Excavation, dredging, and mining activities (except as may be necessary for agricultural and forestry uses)

11. Does Montgomery County Lands Trust purchase easements?

While Montgomery County Lands Trust can purchase easements, current practices and funding levels place priority on receiving easements through voluntary donations.

12. How much is an easement worth?

An easement's monetary value varies, depending on the individual property and the land's restrictions. Generally, the more restrictive the easement is, the higher its value. To determine that value, you must have your land appraised at both its market value without the easement and its market value with the easement. The difference between these two values is the easement value, which can be used for income tax deduction purposes.

13. How do future owners of a property know an easement exists?

The easement is executed as a formal legal document and registered in the county's Recorder of Deeds office. The property's title search should reveal the easement's existence

14. Who enforces the easement's terms?

Montgomery County Lands Trust enforces the easement's terms by making routine visits to the property. If present or future owners breach the easement's terms, Montgomery County Lands Trust requires that they restore the property to its prior condition.

For further information, on conservation easements, contact us.

Box 300 • Lederach, Pennsylvania 19450 • Phone 215-513-0100 • Fax 215-513-0150 • info@mclt.org

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