Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation

“Monitoring the easement property is placed on a schedule to be inspected at least once per calendar year in order to ensure compliance with the terms of the conservation easement. The landowner or designated representative is contacted in advance of the site visit, and tenngreen prefers that the owner or representative be present if possible during the site visit. Each monitoring report includes the following information: inspection date, property inspected, name of inspector, observations related to property's condition and conservation values enforcement tenngreen follows an enforcement policy. If a monitoring visit results in the need for an enforcement action due to a violation of conservation easement restrictions, tenngreen documents all enforcements to show they were timely, consistent with conservation easement values and/or restrictions, and did not result in a private inurement or impermissible private benefit. The board will be involved as appropriate to the scale of the violation and any co-holders of the conservation easement will be informed according to the terms of the conservation easement and mou. Tenngreen has a policy detailing how it will respond to a potential violation of an easement, including the role of all parties involved in any enforcement action. Our policy includes these provisions outlined in our model easement. In the event of a disagreement between tenngreen and the grantor of the easement, arbitration will be conducted by a committee made up of three individuals who have reasonable experience with conservation easements and land-use of similar properties. One individual will be selected by the grantor. One will be selected by tenngreen. The third will be selected by these two individuals. The three-member arbitration committee will determine by majority vote the issue. The committee shall follow the procedural rules of the american arbitration association. The decision of the committee will be binding on tenngreen and the donors. When tenngreen determines that an easement grantor is in violation of the terms and conditions of the easement, tenngreen will give written notice of the violation(s) to the grantor and request corrective action. If the grantor fails to correct the violation within thirty days, or the violation cannot be reasonably corrected within thirty days, or has not begun the process of correction within thirty days, tenngreen may then commence legal action to enforce the easement terms. When circumstances mandate, tenngreen will take necessary and consistent steps to see that violations are resolved. Tenngreen will secure the financial and legal resources for enforcement and defense, through the use of its legal defense fund and/or use of terrafirma insurance. In the case of suspected violations: 1. The executive director reviews monitoring documentation and the terms of the easement, and prepares written notification to the landowner following provisions in the easement contract and with oversight provided by the executive committee and legal counsel. 2. Tenngreen staff will revisit the property if needed to carefully, quantitatively, and descriptively document violations. This should include photographs, maps and descriptions of what was destroyed. Staff documents all phone calls, meetings and correspondence regarding the violation. Tenngreen staff should not discuss or make determinations about whether a violation has occurred. 3. The conservation committee will review documentation and seek guidance from the land trust alliance's "enforcement: handling easement violations" section in the conservation easement handbook. 4. On behalf of and under the direction of the board of directors, the executive director may enter into arbitration as permitted in the model conservation easement document to settle disputes regarding whether an activity or use violates restrictions. 5. If a violation has occurred, the executive director will prepare written notice to the landowner of the”

“The organization receives donations of conservation easements. A qualified conservation easement is a restriction (that is granted in perpetuity) on the use of land granted to a charity exclusively for conservation purposes. The organization has not capitalized these conservation easements as they have determined they meet the definition of a collection in accordance with us gaap. Approximately 10,301.39 acres are currently protected with an appraised value at the date of donation of 36,383,583. The organization has elected not to recognize conservation easements acquired through contributions. During the year ended september 30, 2020, there was one conservation easement purchased by the organization and is recognized on the statement of financial position.”

“Tenngreen land conservancy's board of directors adopted an endowment goal of 10,000 per easement property at inception of the program in 1999. This goal is evaluated with the acceptance of each easement on a case-by-case basis but not below a minimum of 5,000 per easement project. If endowment funds are not secured at or by the completion of the transaction, tenngreen has a plan to secure these funds and has a policy committing the funds to this purpose. Tenngreen's conservation easements provide guidance for arbitration and violation enforcement. However, should legal enforcement be required, the full board of directors will approve the process and budget. Restricted accounts are established for all easements and reflected on the monthly balance sheet and reported to the board. Note: contribution to an endowment fund is not required. The land gift is the real gift to conservation and stewardship funding is sought from general membership or bequests.”

“The organization is a tax-exempt organization under section 501c(3) of the internal revenue code (irc) and is classified as an organization that is not a private foundation as defined in section 509(a) of the irc. Therefore, no provision for federal income taxes is included in the accompanying financial statements. The organization does not believe there are any uncertain tax positions. Further, the organization does not believe they have any unrelated business income, which would be subject to federal income taxes. The organization is not subject to examination by us federal or state taxing authorities for years before 2016.”