Northern Virginia Conservation Trust

“Operating fund is a reserve, designated by the Board, to be used for strategic purposes, capacity building, and other key initiatives. The use of designated funds is based on the annual program plan, budget process, or through a separate motion as needed. The Trust's Board-designated quasi-endowment fund (also referred to as "the Stewardship Fund") was established to support long-term responsibilities that are accepted by the Trust with each conservation easement.”

“It is the policy of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) to enforce the terms of its conservation easements and protect respective conservation values. Annual monitoring and consistent communication with landowners can help prevent violations and resolve enforcement issues promptly and effectively. Enforcement of NVCT's conservation easements serves to: A. Maintain the conservation values of protected land. B. Maintain productive and trusted working relationships with landowners. C. Maintain and increase public confidence in NVCT's consistent adherence to and enforcement of easement restrictions. D. Deter potential offenders from violating conservation easements. E. Protect and maintain NVCT's status as an accredited land trust. Discovery Potential violations may be discovered during an NVCT monitoring visit, from a neighbor or other interested party, from local government contacts or from other possible sources. A violation may be caused by many different possible sources, including but not limited to: the landowner, a tenant, an adjacent property owner or tenant, or a trespasser. Staff will approach the potential violation with an appreciation that the landowner may not be aware of the problem, may not have intentionally committed the violation, or may not have intentionally allowed a third party to commit a violation Action 1. Documenting the Potential Violation Regardless of the means of discovery of the potential violation, staff will not confront the landowner or other party at the time of discovery. The procedure begins with staff recording the potential violation (either during the annual monitoring visit or subsequent site visits) through photography, mapping, and descriptive narrative. Creating, maintaining, and preserving records is a critical component of the process, especially in the event that NVCT is required to defend an easement in court. For more information about NVCT's policy on records retention, please see the Document Retention Policy. 2. Reviewing the Existing Documentation Staff will thoroughly compare the documentation of the potential violation to the Baseline Documentation Report, previous monitoring reports, and the Deed of Easement to determine if the situation is in fact a violation. Staff may also consult with one another for additional institutional knowledge and seasoned professional judgment. 3. Contacting the Landowner Once staff determine that a violation has occurred, they will contact the landowner, and will also report this finding to the LSC and/or the Board as the situation merits. First contact with the landowner will be a phone call, followed by an email summarizing what was discussed on the call. Staff will explain to the landowner that a violation has occurred and that NVCT has an obligation to uphold the terms of the easement under Virginia law. At this time staff will also listen to and/or collect any explanations or information that the landowner offers, answer questions to the extent feasible, and disicuss options for resovling the violation. Taking Action Depending on the severity of the violation (and considering if this is a recurring issue with this landowner and/or with this easement) the response and actions to follow will vary. Litigation As a course of last resort, NVCT will use litigation or other legal means to address an easement violation. Enforcement through court action is expensive, time consuming, may produce an undesirable outcome, and/or may cause irreparable damage to the relationship between the landowner and NVCT. Nevertheless, court enforcement may be necessary to defend an easement, prevent or stop damaging activities, or obtain restoration of a site. When the Board determines that litigation is the best course of action, the Executive Director and officers of the Board will work closely with outside counsel to prepare and present the strongest possible case.”

“The Trust holds 101 conservation easements as of June 30, 2018. This compares to 99 conservation easements held on June 30, 2017. The purpose of the conservation easement is to preserve and protect the environment of the properties and to permanently maintain the open-space value and character of the associated real property. The conservation easements held by the Trust were all obtained via gift deed from the property owner of record at the time of donation. During the year ended June 30, 2017, the conservation easements were reviewed for accuracy prior to enrollment in a conservation defense insurance program. A requirement to tally protected properties resulted in a discovery of an incorrect number of conservation easements that can be divided into more than one parcel, due to inconsistences in the accounting applied over prior years. Some easements included only one landowner, when, in fact, two or more landowners existed because division rights had been exercised. Additionally, some easements listed all landowners of divided easements separately. This resulted in a higher number of easement listings than actual number of deeds of easement that the Trust holds. As a result, the Trust corrected the actual number of easements held during June 30, 2017, and has developed and implemented a consistent approach to track both deeds of easement and divided properties. Since these easements have no marketable value, the Trust's policy is to assign a nominal value of $100 per easement and record as conservation easement asset in the accompanying statements of financial position. At June 30, 2018 and 2017, conservation easements were $10,100 and $9,900, respectively.”

“No provisions for income tax are required for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, as the Trust had no net unrelated business income. Contributions to the Trust are deductible as provided in IRC Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi). Management has evaluated the Trust's tax positions and concluded that the Trust's financial statements do not include any uncertain tax positions.”

“Direct expense 9,527.”

“Direct expense 9,527.”