Articles
Making Your Wishes Live Forever
Page: 1 , 2
A Land Trust can’t afford to accept every property and Easement it is offered. There has to be something special about the property to justify the Trust’s commitment to preserve it.
A good measure of its worth would be certification under the federal Ecological Gifts program as ecologically significant. Certification also has tax implications for the donor.
Conservation agreements have been around in the United States since the 1960s and came to Canada in the early 1990s. Ontario first recognized them as Conservation Easements under the Conservation Land Act in 1994.
Photo: Lyn Winans
Trusts are attractive partners to many owners because they have strong local ties, are community-driven and focus their efforts on wildlife and landscape preservation.
Once a Trust has decided to accept an Easement, it will guide the landowner through the process, explaining what needs to be done. The owner still will need to retain his own advisors to help with the legal, tax and other related issues associated with any property transaction.
The process may be broken down into six steps – establishing title, drafting the Easement agreement, creating a baseline report, deciding whether to apply for Ecological Gift certification, appraisal and registration of the Title.
Three of those steps need explaining. The agreement covers rights and responsibilities, remedies, property descriptions, the baseline report and restrictions.
The baseline report is an objective description of the natural values, features and current uses that make the property unique. This information is used in applying for Ecological Gift certification or to help determine if the Agreement has been violated.
There will be two appraisals, determining the property’s value before and after the Agreement. The Trust will issue a charitable tax receipt for the difference between those two values.
The Trust is ready to offer a plain-language explanation of the process and will consider all proposals. If you want to talk to us about your property, click the Contact page on this web site.
For more information about the Ecological Gift program and its tax implications, go to www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/ecogifts.
(Ron Reid of the Couchiching Conservancy and Bob Barnett of the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy assisted with this article, which was edited by Neil Campbell of the HHLT.)
Page: 1 , 2
Last Updated: Jun 29 2010 12:10:22 am.
Sign Up for our Newsletter
Photo: Lyn Winans
Did You Know...
that there are 12 Species at Risk in the Haliburton County. These species include American Ginseng, Peregrine Falcon and Five-lined Skink. Find out more about Species at Risk.
