Conservation Easements Growing In Popularity In Montana

"Rural Montana landowners are giving the term "neighborhood" a whole new definition. It's one that protects large swaths of scenic and valuable land from subdivision or degradation. And it provides numerous public benefits. It all starts with conservation easements.

They are legal agreements that restrict landowners from certain development on their property. Most restrictions extend to future owners of the property. That clearly can diminish the profit potential — especially for land in coveted areas. The tradeoff is that participating landowners receive tax breaks. In some areas, small groups of neighboring landowners are setting up conservation easements. The most recent example is along the Rocky Mountain Front near Choteau, where Clay Crawford put 2,000 acres under protection through the Nature Conservancy.

"I love the place, and it's a beautiful place," he said. "I want to ensure that it will never be developed."

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So far nearly 1.4 million acres of land in Montana is protected by virtue of this voluntary program. That's an area a third again the size of Glacier National Park. It puts Montana among the leading states for easements. Nationally, just over 5 million acres are protected."

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http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050422/OPINION01/504220319/1014/NEWS01

Unless YOU'D like to do it, I'd like to repost it in the thread of "hopeful news stories" in the KOEB Group. That thread is here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=315x1796
Thread title: "KOEB PROJECT: Please post news stories that are HOPEFUL in this thread"

(In case you didn't know, the KOEB is the Keith Olbermann Estrogen Brigade, but despite the name all are welcome and our regulars include men.)