Montgomery County Lands Trust Inc

“1- the existing easement for jake and gretchen lea was amended to include an additional 23.47 acres under easement in berks county, pa. The additional acreage includes 11.29 acres in colebrookedale twp and 12.18 acres in earl twp. 2- the lewis(s) easement exercised a reserved right to create a building envelope. The additional building envelope was documented by way of amendment.”

“Montgomery county lands trust (mclt) accepts the obligation of perpetual enforcement with every conservation easement that it receives. Our enforcement obligations are for the specific terms and restrictions of the easement as underpinned by the broad conservation purposes and objectives. Every easement describes the legal mechanisms that we may use to enforce restrictions and protect the conservation purpose. Montgomery county lands trust recognizes that the obligation to defend and enforce conservation easements is critical to our conservation mission, our status as a qualified conservation organization, and the viability of easements as a conservation tool. Easement enforcement is not only important to the conservation community, but it will also maintain public trust and governmental support for the special consideration easements are accorded by the internal revenue service and the judicial system. Mclt adopts the following policies regarding the defense and enforcement of conservation easements: 1. In accordance with the internal revenue service requirements, mclt shall maintain adequate funds or insurance for the enforcement of conservation easements and will remain committed to the enforcement of the conservation purposes. 2. Mclt shall seek a stewardship endowment from transferors of easements for ordinary administration and stewardship of the easement. The stewardship endowment funds requested from individual easement transferors will be sufficient to provide a surplus in excess of the costs of ordinary administration, and any surplus that is generated by the endowment will be dedicated to a fund for legal enforcement. In cases where the conservation benefit is great, the board of trustees (bot) has the discretion to accept a conservation easement that is not adequately endowed. For purposes of this section, the words "transferor" and "transferors" shall be deemed to include all persons or entities who or which give or sell (including a bargain sale) an easement, in the case of a person, during his or her lifetime and shall also include, where applicable, the executor or trustee of the estate of a deceased person who transfers an easement after the deceased individuals death. 3. Mclt shall draft conservation easements using the services of experienced legal advisors to eliminate ambiguous and vague restrictions in order to minimize the cost of enforcement, and discourage legal challenges by landowners. Mclt's easements will be drafted to require landowner payment of all costs reasonably incurred in the course of performing our duties, other than ordinary administrative tasks such as annual monitoring. 4. Staff shall endeavor to resolve all easement violations efficiently and in a timely manner. Recognizing that the goal of the easement program is to promote land stewardship that advances the health of the natural resources of eased properties and the adjoining area, mclt shall seek to resolve violations, or potential violations, amicably by a range of actions that begin with landowner education and assistance with habitat improvement, followed by actions of increasing rigor when violations are not addressed in a timely manner. The following procedures and protocols outline the responsibilities of staff, officers, and the bot in the administration and enforcement of easements. Monitoring & documentation staff shall monitor easements on an annual basis. Staff shall keep records of monitoring activities. In instances of potential violations or non-compliance, photographs, maps and descriptions of the violation or non-compliant activity shall be recorded by staff. Staff shall keep notes and records of communications with landowners to document the progress of enforcement and measures undertaken to achieve the easement objectives. Co-holders co-holders shall be given reasonable notice of easement monitoring and enforcement, and as specified by the easement, shall be included in decisions that require their review or consu”

“The corporations are exempt from income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. In addition, the corporations qualify for charitable contribution deductions and have been classified as an organization that is not a private foundation. Income which is not related to exempt purposes, less applicable deductions, is subject to federal and state corporate income taxes. Management has evaluated the corporations' tax positions and concluded that the corporations had taken no uncertain tax positions that require adjustment to the financial statements. The corporations file income tax returns in the u.s. Federal jurisdiction. Generally, the corporations are no longer subject to income tax examinations by the u.s. Federal, state or local tax authorities for years before 2010.”

“All costs associate with the purchase of a conservation easement are expensed through the organizations consolidated statement of activities. Each easement is recorded on the balance sheet at $1.00. All offsetting revenues are handled in the same manner.”

“All hours and costs associated with monitoring, inspecting and enforcing conservation easements is captured by natural lands trust. Montgomery county lands trust supports natural lands trust.”