Stepping into a Conservation Easement One Term at a Time
Stepping into a Conservation Easement One Term at a Time
The topic of Conservation Easements can be a sensitive subject for many landowners but the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation (SSGF) are working to change that. The creation of a Term Conservation Easement program can be a tool for landowners to receive a financial payment to keep their native grasslands intact for a defined period of time. The SSGF is the first to introduce Term Conservation Easements, which could easily change the face of grassland conservation not only in Saskatchewan but across Canada.
A traditional conservation easement is perpetual, or tied to the land title forever. Whereas, a Term Conservation Easement brings flexibility with a defined term length for the easement to be tied to the land title. Term lengths themselves can range from a minimum of 25 years, all the way up to 40+ years if that’s what the landowner is interested in. Picking a term length that works for you and your operation is important and will vary for each landowners situation. Once the term length has expired on the easement, the landowner then has a choice to either re-negotiate a new term easement or walk away and lift all the restrictions associated with the easement.
Ranching has a long history of multigenerational involvement and placing an easement on land can cause hesitation when thinking of the next generation and how you are potentially tying up one of your most valuable assets, land. Once you place a perpetual easement on a grassland, every generation of landowner after you must abide by the easement restrictions yet not receive the financial benefits of having land under easement.
The structure of Term Conservation Easements being ne-negotiated can let multiple generations of landowners receive financial incentive to keep their grasslands intact. If you look at the average time a generation will own a parcel of land, by the time a 40-year easement is expiring, the landowner may be looking to sell or transition and the next generation has the chance to decide whether or not re-negotiating a Term Conservation Easement is in their best interest.
The purpose of Term Conservation Easements is to protect our declining grasslands from cultivation and development while providing financial incentive to do so. The pressure to convert grasslands to cropland is at an all-time high, even given the record prices in the cattle industry over the last year. While most grasslands that are left typically have a lower soil quality, if they even have a chance to grow a crop, they are looked at with the opportunity to cash in on grain commodity prices. Further fragmenting the remaining and still declining grasslands in the province.
The SSGF prides itself on the collaborative approach with landowners. Ensuring that landowners understand all the nuts and bolts of the easement, how the restrictions may or may not affect them and how it impacts their operation on a day-to-day level. Working to find a Term Conservation Easements that works for the landowner and fits in the SSGF goals in regards to protecting native grasslands in Saskatchewan.
Term Conservation Easements can be a way for a landowner to work with a local conservation agency and not be locked in indefinitely. The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation is working to protect the grasslands of Saskatchewan with the help of conservation minded individuals. Term Conservation Easements are one of the tools we can use to conserve the remaining grasslands.
Mindy Hockley-Anderson