Guadalupe Blanco River Trust

“Conservation easement enforcement policy the guadalupe-blanco river trust (trust) must enforce the terms of its conservation easements in order to protect the conservation values of the land and water resource to ensure the donor and the publics confidence in the trusts mission of conservation in perpetuity. Failure to uphold the terms of the conservation easements it accepts could threaten the trusts legal authority, its ability to accept future donations of easements and its tax-exempt status. The trust actively seeks to avoid potential easement violations through a variety of preventive actions. It also is prepared to address potential violations and has procedures for when violations occur. The trust acknowledges that it must address all easement violations in partnership with its easement landowners. Preventing violations in its general operations, the trust takes a number of steps to maintain good landowner communications and avoid potential violations; the trust schedules annual monitoring visits to the protected property, preferably with the easement donor or current landowner. The trust uses the monitoring visit as an opportunity to remind the landowner of the restrictions on the property, particularly the requirements for notification of the trust before the exercise of reserved rights, such as clearing for a house site. The trust will provide educational opportunities through written materials, workshops and presentations for landowners in the guadalupe river trusts geographic area. The trust will make consistent and regular steps to educate local attorneys, realtors, title companies, county planning officials about conservation easements on specific properties in their county. When a property under conservation easement is listed for sale, trust staff will work to meet with the listing real estate agent, any serious potential buyers and the buyers real estate agent, to explain the restrictions on the property and the terms of the easement. When a property under conservation easement moves into the hands of the next generation, meet with the heirs of the easement donor or current landowner to explain the restrictions on the property and the terms of the easement. The trust will maintain a public outreach program and build community support for the trusts responsibility to enforce easement terms and protect conservation values. Preparing for violations the trust prepares to address easement violations by the following actions: maintain a stewardship fund restricted to easement enforcement and, in tough financial times, easement monitoring. The trust will request easement donors to contribute to the fund or seek outside sources to endow an easement. The trust will maintain extensive stewardship records including the baseline documentation report, annual monitoring reports that provide a clear report of the conservation values on the property that can be used in the event of a violation. Work with easement landowners to establish a system for evaluating the pros and cons of using arbitration or mediation and/or proceeding to court, as well as the potential pitfalls of permitting settlements (which can give the impression that landowners can buy their way out of easement terms). Prepare staff and board members for discovery of a violation, including what to say to the landowner and how to document the violation. Retain the services of a litigation attorney experienced in real estate law and conservation easements for immediate assistance in the event of a violation. Addressing easement violations trust staff may discover an easement violation on a monitoring visit, through a neighbor or other interested party, or during informal observation. The violation may have been caused by the landowner, an adjacent property owner or a trespasser. The trust cannot assume that the landowner is the responsible party. The trusts first response will be to contact the landowner to discuss the situation and to thoroughly document the vi”

“The easements are not recorded on the balance sheet, but are shown in the footnotes. Stewardship fees received that are related to the easements are recorded as income on the statement of activities. Most of the stewardship fees received are then donor restricted in our stewardship account. Expenses related to the easements are recorded as program expenses, also on the statement of activities.”