Amending Grants of Conservation Easement: WeConservePA Refreshes Its Analysis, Expands and Updates Guidance

WeConservePA has expanded and refreshed the guidance it maintains in the Conservation Easement Amendment collection at the WeConservePA Library.

NEW MODEL DOCUMENT

Model Policy for Conservation Easement Amendment
Every easement-holding land trust should have a policy to help guide responsible consideration of potential amendments to grants of conservation easement. WeConservePA produced the one-page Model Policy for Conservation Easement Amendment, together with its expansive Guidelines for Conservation Easement Amendments, Waivers, and Letters of Interpretation (see below), to assist land trusts in establishing or updating such a policy and, most importantly, acting responsibly and productively in their easement decision-making.

NEW GUIDE EDITION

Guidelines for Conservation Easement Amendments, Waivers, and Letters of Interpretation
This 20-page resource serves as a guide to responsible decision-making regarding potential amendments of grants of conservation easement. It may be used on its own or in combination with WeConservePA’s model policy for amendment (see above). From the guide’s description:

Conservation easements are intended to last—to ensure protection of important resources, no matter people’s whims—through the decades and centuries. However, the world changes and so do understandings of how best to meet conservation objectives. A land trust must be prepared to address these changes in order to ensure that its conservation work is effective while assuring its supporters and the public that it is a reliable agent of conservation.

FOR PUBLIC REVIEW

Legal Considerations in Amending Grants of Conservation Easement
WeConservePA has posted for public review a draft new edition of its groundbreaking 2014 guide, Legal Considerations in Amending Grants of Conservation Easement. From the 18-page guide’s description:

There is no shortage of confusion regarding how the law actually bears on the amendment of grants of conservation easement. This guide analyzes the law and informs easement holders, particularly private land trusts, of legal matters to consider under Pennsylvania law and the Internal Revenue Code when making decisions regarding the amendment of grants of conservation easement.

Review the draft new edition. Please send comments to Director of Conservation Law Justin Hollinger at [email protected] no later than July 8, 2024.