Conservation Easements: Permanent Shields against Sprawl

Source: Journal of Forestry, Volume 100, Number 3, 1 April 2002 , pp. 8-12(5)

Publisher: Society of American Foresters

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Abstract:

Conservation easements are an effective tool for maintaining working forests, preserving environmental values, and protecting communities from excessive development pressure. The Society of American Foresters (SAF) supports conservation easements as one tool for ensuring sustainable forest management. Selling or donating conservation easements may allow landowners who are committed to sustainable management to resist pressure to sell their property to developers. Similarly, in the face of pressure to withdraw working forests from active management, conservation easements offer a way to provide adequate environmental and open-space benefits while allowing continued timber harvesting.

Keywords: fragmentation; parcelization; sustainable forestry; environmental management; forest; forest management; forest resources; forestry; forestry research; forestry science; natural resources; natural resource management