Great Barrington Land Conservancy Inc

“All conservation easement restrictions for consideration are evaluated by the organization's conservation and stewardship committee using its land conservation and acquisition guidelines. The evaluation includes estimating the long-term stewardship and enforcement expenses prior to acquisition. Following the evaluation, the conservation and stewardship committee make a recommendation to the board of directors, who then vote to either approve or deny acquiring the easement restriction. When a easement restriction is acquired, a qualified third party is also contracted to complete a baseline documentation report which is reviewed and approved by the organization's conservation and stewardship committee. All easement restrictions are monitored annually by the organization or a qualified third party to ensure compliance.”

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

“Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements by which landowners can elect to ensure permanent protection of the conservation values of their property. The easement agreements allow the organization to access and use portions of their properties for conservation purposes. 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, sometimes, site planning constraints set out in the easement. The organization does not attribute value to the easements held. Easements are not marketable interests in real estate, and have no segregable economic value to the organization. The easements impose on the organization an obligation to monitor and steward the properties, the costs of which are an on-going expense in the organization's annual budget.”