Voluntary Conservation Easements Empower Landowners and Enrich Rural Communities

COMMENTARY

Recently, more than 500 organizations and companies representing a diverse set of Farm Bill stakeholders sent a letter to congressional leaders urging passage of a bipartisan Farm Bill before the end of the year. Letter signers include the Partnership for Rangeland Trusts and the Land Trust Alliance, of which our organization, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust is a member. As Congress continues to deliberate on the bill itself and how to pay for it, it is crucial that it adequately fund the Farm Bill’s voluntary conservation programs.

These programs are the largest federal funding sources for private land conservation and create significant opportunities for land trusts like ours to protect high-priority farm and ranch lands, grasslands, wetlands and forests.

Conservation easements are the number one tool for protecting privately owned land, and in the ongoing discussions about the future of agricultural policy, it is crucial to highlight the broad and significant benefits of voluntary conservation easement programs. Yet some on the fringes have sought to misrepresent conservation easements and federal conservation easement programs as part of a federal land grab conspiracy.

Conservation easements are widely popular, regardless of political party affiliation. These programs are not just about conserving land; they are about empowering landowners, enhancing rural economies and safeguarding our environmental heritage.

Conservation easements are voluntary agreements in which landowners retain ownership and control of the day-to-day operational management of the property. They allow landowners to continue using their land productively while also providing financial incentives to conserve it for agricultural purposes, wildlife, open space and future generations.

Agricultural conservation easements focus on preventing non-agricultural development, thus safeguarding the land’s future for domestic food production. These easements are flexible, allowing producers to adjust their operations over time, including building new infrastructure and evolving their agricultural practices to meet changing needs. The constraints on infrastructure development are developed by the landowner and tailored to their operational needs and goals, ensuring that conservation easements work in harmony with agricultural productivity, both now and in the future.

The economic impact of conservation easements on rural communities is substantial and positive. Research by the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University shows that federal agricultural conservation easement program payments have generated significant economic activity. For example, federal investments in conservation easements in Colorado between 2008 and 2017 resulted in nearly $195 million in new economic activity, creating more than 1,200 jobs with an average wage of $50,000 per year. More than 80% of this stimulus occurred in rural communities, providing a crucial financial injection in areas where economic opportunities are often limited.

These payments also help landowners reduce debt and save for future uncertainties. More than half of federal conservation easement compensation in Colorado was used for debt repayment, providing a vital financial safety net for farmers and ranchers. Furthermore, a significant portion of easement payments are reinvested into agricultural operations, including improving irrigation systems, expanding acreage and diversifying crops, all of which enhance agricultural productivity and operational resilience.

Beyond the economic benefits, voluntary conservation easements also offer substantial environmental and public benefits. By conserving agricultural land from development, conservation easements ensure that we will have places to grow and harvest food, fiber and energy into the future. Easements conserve natural habitats and wildlife migration corridors, protect water quality and maintain open spaces.

These environmental services are vital for the well-being of both rural and urban populations who benefit from healthy private lands.

By ensuring that land remains dedicated to agricultural and conservation purposes, voluntary conservation easements are important tools that contribute to our ecosystems and communities’ long-term health and resilience.

They allow people to protect the land they love, keeping lands in private hands while being permanently protected.

Erik Glenn is the executive director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust. He holds a Bachelor of Science in natural resources management from Colorado State University, a Master of Resource Law Studies from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and an Executive MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Glenn also serves on the board of directors of Keep it Colorado, is the president of the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts and is a trustee of the Western Stock Show Association. He can be found at [email protected].