Conservation Easement Resources
(last updated May 15, 2014)
Table of Contents
A. Restatements ________________________________________________________ 2
B. Uniform and Model Acts _______________________________________________ 2
C. Treatises ____________________________________________________________ 3
D. Miscellaneous State Resources __________________________________________ 3
E. Federal Tax Law ______________________________________________________ 4
F. Conservation Easement Databases ________________________________________ 4
G. Law Review and Other Articles __________________________________________ 5
1. Modification and Termination ________________________________________________________ 5
2. Merger _________________________________________________________________________________ 9
3. Condemnation _________________________________________________________________________ 9
4. Tax Incentives ________________________________________________________________________ 10
H. Land Trust Alliance, Accreditation Commission, Standards and Practices _______ 11
A. Restatements
1. Restatement (Third) Property: Servitudes 
§ 1.6 Conservation Servitude and Conservation Organization Defined 
§ 3.1 Validity of Servitudes: General Rule, cmt. f., Illustration 4

§ 4.1 Interpretation of Servitudes 
§ 4.3(4) Duration of a Servitude

§ 4.6(1)(b) Transferability of Servitude Benefits 
§ 4.9 Servient Owner’s Right to Use Estate Burdened by a Servitude, cmt.
b.

§ 7.11 Modification And Termination of A Conservation Servitude
Because Of Changed Conditions

§ 7.16(5) Servitudes Not Terminable Under Marketable-Title Acts 
§ 8.5 Enforcement of a Conservation Servitude Held by a Governmental
Body or a Conservation Organization
2. Restatement (Third) Trusts

§ 28 Charitable Purposes 
§ 94 Standing to Enforce a Trust
B. Uniform and Model Acts
1. Uniform Conservation Easement Act, Final Act with 2007 amendments and
comments,
http://www.uniformlaws.org/shared/docs/conservation_easement/ucea_final_81%
20with%2007amends.pdf

Burnett, Uniform Conservation Easement Act: Reflections of a Member of
the Drafting Committee, 2013 Utah L. Rev. 773,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc
2. Uniform Trust Code § 414 and comment,
http://www.uniformlaws.org/Act.aspx?title=Trust%20Code
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3. Model Protection of Charitable Assets Act and comments,
http://www.uniformlaws.org/Act.aspx?title=Protection%20of%20Charitable%20
Assets%20Act,%20Model
C. Treatises
1. POWELL ON REAL PROPERTY, CHAPTER 34A
2. STEPHEN J. SMALL, FEDERAL TAX LAW OF CONSERVATION EASEMENTS (1997)
D. Miscellaneous State Resources
1. For a list of over 100 state enabling statutes as of 2010, see Appendices A and
B of McLaughlin, Internal Revenue Code Section 170(h): National Perpetuity
Standards for Federally Subsidized Conservation Easements, Part 2: Comparison
to State Law, 46 REAL PROP. TR. & EST. L.J. 1 (2011),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1888689
2. New Hampshire Attorney General Guidelines for Conservation Easement
Amendment and Termination,
http://doj.nh.gov/charitable-trusts/documents/conservation-easementsguidelines.pdf

Knowles, Amending or Terminating Conservation Easements: The New
Hampshire Experience, 2013 UTAH L. REV. 871,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc
3. The Massachusetts Conservation Restriction Handbook,
http://atfiles.org/files/pdf/MAconsrestrict08.pdf
4. Colorado Conservation Easement Tax Credit Performance Audit,
http://www.leg.state.co.us/OSA/coauditor1.nsf/All/5F733A628FCF979A87257A
94007374E8/$FILE/2171%20ConserEasemTaxCredit%20092612%20KM.pdf
5. Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, Evaluation of State-Funded
Conservation Easements,
http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2013/coneas.htm
6. Pidot, Conservation Easement Reform: As Maine Goes Should The Nation
Follow?, 74 DUKE J. L. & CONTEMP. PROBS. 1 (2011),
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol74/iss4/2
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7. McLaughlin & Pidot, Conservation Easement Enabling Statutes, Perspectives
on Reform, forthcoming in 2013 UTAH L. REV. 811,
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2402767
E. Federal Tax Law
1. Internal Revenue Code § 170(h),
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/170
2. Senate Report No. 96-1007 2d Sess. (1980), 1980-2 C.B. 599 (legislative
history of § 170(h))
3. Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-14
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2006-title26-vol3/pdf/CFR-2006-title26vol3-sec1-170A-14.pdf
4. Senate Finance Committee Report of Staff Investigation of The Nature
Conservancy, 109th Cong., 1st Sess., Volumes I and II (June 2005),
http://www.finance.senate.gov./library/prints/?id=6ef24253-998a-4052-a32ad0520c467c2
5. Instructions for Schedule D, IRS Form 990,
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i990sd.pdf
6. Private Letter Rulings recommending revocation of tax-exempt status of
entities holding conservation easements: PLR 201044026; PLR 201048045; PLR
201109030; PLR 201110020; PLR 201405018.
7. IRS Information Letter (Swaps) (March 5, 2012), http://www.irs.gov/pub/irswd/12-0017.pdf
8. IRS Information Letter (Extinguishment) (Sept. 8, 2012),
http://f.datasrvr.com/fr1/513/49712/20130014_Qualified_Conservation_Contribution_.pdf
F. Conservation Easement Databases
1. National Conservation Easement Database,
http://www.conservationeasement.us
2. Olmsted, The Invisible Forest: Conservation Easement Databases and the End
of the Clandestine Conservation of Natural Lands, 74 DUKE J. L. & CONTEMP.
PROBS. 51 (2011), http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol74/iss4/4
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3. Morris & Rissman, Public Access to Information on Private Land
Conservation: Tracking Conservation Easements, WIS. L. REV. (2009),
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journa
ls/wlr2009&div=42&id=&page=
G. Law Review and Other Articles
1. Modification and Termination

Blackie, Note, Conservation Easements and the Doctrine of Changed
Conditions, 40 HAST. L. J. 1187 (1989)

Tapick, Note, Threats to the Continued Existence of Conservation
Easements, 27 COLUM. J. ENVTL. L. 257 (2002)

Arpad, Private Transactions, Public Benefits, and Perpetual Control Over
the Use of Real Property: Interpreting Conservation Easements as
Charitable Trusts, 37 REAL PROP. PROB. & TR. J. 91 (2002)

McLaughlin, Rethinking the Perpetual Nature of Conservation Easements,
29 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 421 (2005),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=757009

Pidot, Reinventing Conservation Easements: A Critical Examination and
Ideas for Reform (Lincoln Inst. of Land Pol’y 2005),
http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/1051_Reinventing-ConservationEasements

McLaughlin, Amending Perpetual Conservation Easements: A Case Study
of the Myrtle Grove Controversy, 40 U RICH. L. REV. 1031 (2006),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=903845
Hicks v. Dowd, Salzburg v. Dowd

McLaughlin, Could Coalbed Methane Be the Death of
Conservation Easements?, 29 WYO. LAW. 18 (Oct. 2006),
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1460193

Lindstrom, Hicks v. Dowd: The End of Perpetuity?, 8 WYO. L.
REV. 25 (2008),
http://www.timothylindstrom.com/uploads/1/2/5/8/12581180/end_
of_perpetuity.pdf
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
McLaughlin & Weeks, In Defense of Conservation Easements: A
Response to “The End of Perpetuity,” 9 WYO. L. REV. 1 (2009),
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1332225

Lindstrom, Conservation Easements, Common Sense and the
Charitable Trust Doctrine, 9 WYO. L. REV. 397 (2009),
http://www.uwyo.edu/law/_files/docs/wy%20law%20review/archi
ve/law_review_v9_n2.pdf

McLaughlin & Weeks, Hicks v. Dowd, Conservation Easements
and the Charitable Trust Doctrine: Setting the Record Straight, 10
WYO. L. REV. 73 (2010), http://ssrn.com/abstract=1542648

Lindstrom, Salzburg v. Dowd Settles, Case Summary, 33 WYO.
LAW. 50 (Apr. 2010)

McLaughlin & Weeks, Salzburg v. Dowd: Another Look, 33 WYO.
LAW. 50 (June 2010), http://ssrn.com/abstract=1654432

University of Utah College of law post on Salzburg v Dowd with
links to case documents,
http://www.law.utah.edu/documents/salzburg-v-dowd/

McLaughlin, Conservation Easements: Perpetuity and Beyond, 34
ECOLOGY L. Q. 673 (2007), http://ssrn.com/abstract=1032346

Richardson, Note, Conservation Easements as Charitable Trusts in
Kansas: Striking the Appropriate Balance Among the Grantor’s Intent, the
Public’s Interest, and the Need for Flexibility, 49 WASHBURN L.J. 175
(2009),
http://s3.amazonaws.com/conservationtools/s3_files/773/Conservation_Ea
sements_as_Charitable_Trusts_in_Kansas.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=1NXA
G53SXSSG82H0V902&Expires=1400340309&Signature=r6hpPPalXZd
AABaUQdkz7bvU%2Fr0%3D

Morris, The Changing Landscape of Conservation Easements: Public
Accountability & Evolving Oversight, Dissertation (2009),
http://udini.proquest.com/view/the-changing-landscape-ofpqid:1853453851/

Bray, Reconciling Development and Natural Beauty: The Promise and
Dilemma of Conservation Easements, 34 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV 119
(2010), http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/elr/vol34_1/119-178.pdf

McLaughlin, Internal Revenue Code Section 170(h): National Perpetuity
Standards for Federally Subsidized Conservation Easements, Part 1: The
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Standards, 45 REAL PROP. TR. & EST. L.J. 473 (2010),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1743204

McLaughlin, Internal Revenue Code Section 170(h): National Perpetuity
Standards for Federally Subsidized Conservation Easements, Part 2:
Comparison to State Law, 46 REAL PROP. TR. & EST. L.J. 1 (2011),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1888689

Pidot, Conservation Easement Reform: As Maine Goes Should The Nation
Follow?, 74 DUKE J. L. & CONTEMP. PROBS. 1 (2011),
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol74/iss4/2

Owley, The Enforceability of Exacted Conservation Easements, 36 VT. L.
REV. (2011), http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1925065

Jay, When Perpetual is Not Forever, The Challenge of Changing
Conditions, Amendment, and Termination of Perpetual Conservation
Easements, 36 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV 1 (2012),
http://www3.law.harvard.edu/journals/elr/files/2012/04/Jay.pdf (response
article immediately below)

Schwing, Perpetuity is Forever, Almost Always: Why it is Wrong to
Promote the Amendment and Termination of Perpetual Conservation
Easements, 37 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV 217 (2012),
http://www3.law.harvard.edu/journals/elr/files/2013/05/Schwing.pdf
(response to article immediately above)

McLaughlin, Extinguishing and Amending Conservation Easements,
Protecting the Federal Investment After Carpenter, Simmons, and
Kaufman, 23 FLA. TAX REV. 217 (2012),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2194014

McLaughlin, Perpetual Conservation Easements in the 21st Century: What
Have We Learned and Where Should We Go From Here?, 2013 UTAH L.
REV. 687, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2402727

Burnett, Uniform Conservation Easement Act: Reflections of a Member of
the Drafting Committee, 2013 Utah L. Rev. 773,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc

Knowles, Amending or Terminating Conservation Easements: The New
Hampshire Experience, 2013 UTAH L. REV. 871,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc
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
Wolf, Conservation Easements and the “Term Creep” Problem, 2013
UTAH L. REV. 787,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc

Leslie, Conservation Easements as Charitable Property: Fiduciary Duties
and the Limits of Charitable Self-Regulation, 2013 UTAH L. REV. 849,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc

McLaughlin & Pidot, Conservation Easement Enabling Statutes,
Perspectives on Reform, 2013 UTAH L. REV. 811,
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2402767

Colinvaux, Conservation Easements: Design Flaws, Enforcement
Challenges, and Reform, 2013 Utah L. Rev. 755,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc

Rissman, et al., Adapting Conservation Easements to Climate Change,
Conservation Letters (2014),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2340471
Land Trust Alliance Evolving Stance on Perpetuity

William P. O’Connor, Amending Conservation Easements: Legal
and Policy Considerations, 8 EXCHANGE: J. LAND TRUST
ALLIANCE (Spring 1999)

CONSERVATION EASEMENT HANDBOOK: MANAGING LAND
CONSERVATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION EASEMENT
PROGRAMS (Janet Diehl & Thomas S. Barrett eds., Trust for Public
Land & Land Trust Alliance 1988)

THOMAS S. BARRETT & STEFAN NAGEL, MODEL CONSERVATION
EASEMENT AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION EASEMENT, 1996:
REVISED EASEMENTS AND COMMENTARY FROM “THE
CONSERVATION EASEMENT HANDBOOK” (Land Trust Alliance
1996)

ELIZABETH BYERS & KARIN MARCHETTI PONTE, THE
CONSERVATION EASEMENT HANDBOOK (Trust for Public Land &
Land Trust Alliance, 2d Ed. 2005) 
Amending Conservation Easements: Evolving Practices and Legal
Principles (Land Trust Alliance Research Report, Aug. 2007) 8

Jane Ellen Hamilton, Understanding the Debate about
Conservation Easement Amendments, Saving Land 14 (Land Trust
Alliance, Winter 2014)
2. Merger

McLaughlin, Conservation Easements and The Doctrine of Merger, 74
DUKE J.L. & CONTEMP. PROBS. 279 (2011),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1923390.

Advisory Opinion from Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, Virginia Attorney
General, (Aug. 31, 2012) (“[A] conservation easement . . . is not
extinguished by application of the common law doctrine of merger . . . .”),
http://www.oag.state.va.us/Opinions%20and%20Legal%20Resources/Opi
nions/2012opns/11-140%20Rust.pdf

See, e.g., MISS. CODE ANN. § 89-19-5(5) (“A conservation easement shall
continue to be effective and shall not be extinguished if the easement
holder is or becomes the owner in fee of the subject property.”)
3. Condemnation

McLaughlin & Pidot, Conservation Easement Enabling Statutes,
Perspectives on Reform, 2013 UTAH L. REV. 811,
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2402767

CAL. CIV. PROC. CODE §1240.055 (2013)

McLaughlin, Condemning Conservation Easements: Protecting the Public
Interest and Investment in Conservation, 41 UC DAVIS L. REV. 1897
(2008), http://ssrn.com/abstract=1136963

Protecting Conservation Easements from Eminent Domain in National
Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (Conservation Law Center
2008),
http://conservationlawcenter.org/files/CLC_Condemnation_in_NIET_Corr
idors_Memo_POST_6_2_08.pdf

Levin, When Forever Proves Fleeting: The Condemnation and
Conversion of Conservation Land, 9 NYU Envtl. L.J. 592 (2001),
http://www.massland.org/files/When%20Forever%20Proves%20Fleeting.
pdf
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4. Tax Incentives

McLaughlin, Increasing the Tax Incentives for Conservation Easement
Donations - A Responsible Approach, 31 ECOLOGY L. Q. 1 (2004),
http://ssrn.com/abstract=776645

State Conservation Tax Credits, Impact and Analysis (Conservation
Resource Center 2007),
http://www.taxcreditexchange.com/documents/realfinalversion.pdf

Shea B. Airey, Conservation Easements in Private Practice, 44 REAL
PROP. TR. & EST. L.J. 745 (2010)

Halperin, Incentives for Conservation Easements: The Charitable
Deduction or a Better Way, 74 DUKE J. L. & CONTEMP. PROBS. 29 (2011),
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol74/iss4/3/

Eagle, Notional Generosity: Explaining Charitable Donors’ High
Willingness to Part with Conservation Easements, 35 HARV. ENVTL. L.
REV. 47 (2011),
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/elr/vol35_1/HLE102.pdf

Colinvaux, The Conservation Easement Tax Expenditure: In Search of
Conservation Value, 37 COLUMBIA J. ENVTL. L. 1 (2012),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2003964 
Halperin, A Better Way to Encourage Gifts of Conservation Easements,
136 TAX NOTES 307 (2012),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2115640

McLaughlin, Extinguishing and Amending Tax-Deductible Perpetual
Conservation Easements: Protecting the Federal Investment after
Carpenter, Simmons, and Kaufman, 13 Fla. Tax Rev. 217 (2012),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2194014

Sundberg & Yang, Do Additional Conservation Easement Credits Create
Additional Value?, 2012 STT 233-2 (Oct. 22, 2012)

Colinvaux, Conservation Easements: Design Flaws, Enforcement
Challenges, and Reform, 2013 UTAH L. REV. 755,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc

Sims, Qualified Conservation Restrictions: Recollections of and
Reflections on the Origins of Section 170(h), 2013 UTAH L. REV. 727,
http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/issue/view/79/showToc
10
H. Land Trust Alliance, Accreditation Commission, Standards and Practices
1. Land Trust Alliance, http://www.landtrustalliance.org
2. Land Trust Accreditation Commission, http://www.landtrustaccreditation.org
3. Land Trust Standards and Practices,
https://www.landtrustalliance.org/training/sp
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