Kim Good is Project Manager at Miistakis Institute, Calgary, Alberta.
Kim Good describe what a conservation easement is and what organizations are qualified under Canada Revenue Agency's rules as a non-profit whose purpose is the protection of land. The easement is registered on the land title and runs with the land regardless of owner. The landowner gives up certain opportunities (rights) of management to the land. The conservation organization holding the easement specifies what are accepted management practices on the land parcel. Conservation easements have been used in Alberta for over 16 years and are now regulated under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act. Municipalities in Alberta hold numerous conservation easements. Kim Good outlines what conservation easements can be used for, the protection of: the environment, natural, scenic and esthetic values or agricultural land. Specific uses e.g. recreation, research are allowed if consistent with the objective of the easement. Conservation easements can be used in association with Transfer Development Credits, conservation offset, and a variety of other ecological conservation programs. A restricted covenant requires a benefited property in addition to the property the covenant is applied to. Conservation easements do not. A change in surrounding land-use does not cause the conservation easement to lapse. In Alberta, conservation easements can be held by the provincial government, the municipal government or a land trust. The organization holding the conservation easement must monitor the property to make sure the conditions of the easement are being followed. The assumption must be that the conservation easement will be challenged at some point in the future. So monitoring is necessary. Enforcements of conservation easements requires a clause in the conservation easement that outlines enforcement steps. There is a Canadian Land Trust Association that outlines standards and practices for land trusts. Eco-gifts from Environment Canada provides additional benefits for the landowner but the extra benefits mean that requested changes to the conservation easement are more rigorously scrutinized.
Landowners are compensated by: having their long-term objectives for landscape preservation met, or tax receipts, a cash payment, split receipt (a partial payment, partial tax receipt) or a developmental relaxation. Kim Good outlines the options for determining compensation and how compensation is determined. She finishes by describing conservation easements in Strathcona County (as an extension of environmental reserves) and Beaver County (both counties are east of Edmonton). Strathcona County was trying to protect upland areas. Beaver County was attempting to protect wetland areas in developments. She also describes land trusts in Ontario and Nova Scotia and finishes by describing the land trusts organizations active in Alberta.
Kim Good's presentation was part of her workshop on Ecological Good and Services through the Greater Edmonton Alliance on Sept. 6 , 2012.
