Berkshire Natural Resources Councilinc

“To provide funds to monitor conservation easements.”

“Management has evaluated significant tax positions against the criteria established by professional standards and believes there are no such tax positions requiring accounting recognition.”

“Regular monitoring of conservation restrictions (cr) serves to detect changes in the restricted lands, to ensure that the lands are being used in accordance with the cr, to prevent or identify violations of the cr at the earliest possible time, and to maintain and cultivate good relations with owners of cr land. The practices and protocals prepared by bnrc staff relevant to cr monitoring shall address the following: bnrc-held crs shall be monitored annually; co-held crs may be monitored on a varying schedule as circumstances dictate; monitors shall be properly trained; monitoring shall be conducted on the ground, with notice to landowners inviting their participation; and written reports of monitoring visits shall be filed appropriately, with copies to landowners. Enforcement of violations; although every cr violation requires a response, each situation calls for a unique response. Violations may range from minor acts that pose little threat to the subject property's conservation values to substantial or even willful destruction of irreplaceable conservation resources. Due to the perpetual nature of crs, bnrc is effectively a long-term partner with every owner of cr-encumbered land. This policy and its guidelines are intended to help ensure that bnrc manages its human relationships effectively while protecting the conservation values central to the cr's purpose. The practices and protocols prepared by bnrc staff relevant to enforcement of violations shall ensure that bnrc shall respond to and enforce violations in a manner that will: maintain the conservation purposes of the cr; protect bnrc's legal rights and economic interest in the cr; maintain a constructive relationship with the landowner; maintain bnrc's ability to achieve its overall mission and its ability to enforce specific crs; maintain consistent responses to similar cr violations; and use litigation as a last resort and only when there is a good chance of success.”

“Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements by which landowners can elect to ensure permanent protection of the conservation values of their property. Easement donors continue to own the property in fee, with the right to live on, rent, mortgage or convey their land subject only to the use restrictions and sometime site planning constraints set out in the easement. Bnrc does not attribute value to the easements held. Easements are not marketable interests in real estate, and have no segregable economic value to bnrc. Indeed, the easements impose on bnrc a perpetual obligation to monitor and steward the properties, the cost of which are an ongoing expense in bnrc's annual budget.”