Trends in Easement Language and the Status of Current Monitoring on Working Forest Conservation Easements
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TRENDS IN EASEMENT LANGUAGE AND THE STATUS OF CURRENT MONITORING ON WORKING FOREST CONSERVATION EASEMENTS BY ADAM BLOCK KARA HARTIGAN ROBERT HEISER GREGORY HORNER LUKE LEWANDOWSKI JASON MULVIHILL-KUNTZ STEPHEN THORN A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN APRIL 2004 FACULTY ADVISOR: ELIZABETH BRABEC, J.D., M.L.A. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank Tina Hall, Conservation Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Upper Peninsula Conservation Center, Michigan Chapter, for her guidance, insight, and assistance throughout our project. Our research question closely paralleled an emerging area of research within TNC, which helped facilitate collaboration. Additional thanks to our faculty advisor, Elizabeth Brabec for her direction and commitment to making this work a success. We are grateful to Tammara Van Ryn, Director of Research and Easement Excellence at the Land Trust Alliance, for her advice on the project scope and topic. We also want to thank the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) for enabling us to participate at its Midwest Rally as well as attend its National Rally. LTA-sponsored research also provided a strong background from which to build our research. We would also like to thank the land trust community for its participation in our project. Its cooperation made this project a reality and hopefully a benefit to all land trust professionals involved in Working Forest Conservation Easements. In particular, Paul Doscher of the Society to Protect New Hampshire Forests, Connie Best of the Pacific Forest Trust, and John Henshaw of the USFS Forest Legacy Program provided critical insight into the project. Billy Heiser and Dana Jackman provided invaluable technical and analytical support for our project. Those who provided funding and in-kind support for this project deserve special mention: The Prentice Foundation, University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ecosystem Management Initiative, The Nature Conservancy’s Upper Peninsula Conservation Center, and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. In particular, Kathy Holmes was instrumental in helping us secure funding for our participation at the Land Trust Alliance Rally in Sacramento, California. Lastly, we would like to thank our family and friends for their support and understanding. Their patience and comfort helped ground and energize us. The paper on which this project is printed is made from 100% post-consumer pulp in a chlorine-free pulping and bleaching process. ii PROJECT MEMBERS Adam Block Degree: M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Policy and Behavior. Background: B.S. in Environmental Conservation, University of New Hampshire, NH, 2001. Interests: Collaborative approaches to resource management and land protection, community level land-use planning Kara Hartigan Degree: M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Policy and Behavior. Background: B.S. in Environmental Geoscience and Human Development, Boston College, MA, 1998. Interests: Community-based conservation partnerships, psychology of environmental stewardship, environmental education Robert Heiser Degree: M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Ecology and Management. Background: B.A. in Economics and Psychology, Amherst College, MA, 1991; M.B.A. The Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, NH, 1996. Interests: Land conservation and ecosystem management in the Northeast Gregory Horner Degree: M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Policy and Behavior. Background: B.A. in Environmental Studies, Middlebury College, VT, 1998. Interests: New England land conservation and sustainable growth, public-private partnerships for environmental solutions. Luke Lewandowski Degree: M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Policy and Behavior: Conservation Biology and Ecosystem Management Concentration. Background: B.S., Preprofessional Sciences, University of Notre Dame, IN, 2000. Interests: Land Conservation in the Great Lakes Ecoregion, biodiversity protection, freshwater protection iii Jason Mulvihill-Kuntz Degree: M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Policy and Behavior: Conservation Biology and Ecosystem Management Concentration. Background: B.A. in History and Environmental and Technology Studies, Carlton College, MN, 2001. Interests: Community-based land and resource conservation, collaborative ecosystem management, and public land management. Stephen Thorn Degree: Joint J.D. in Law School and M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment, Resource Policy and Behavior. Background: B.S. in Chemistry, Yale University, CT, 1997; M.S. in Organic Chemistry, University of Illinois, IL, 2000. Interests: The intersection of land conservation, private property rights, and environmental law. iv PROJECT ADVISOR AND CLIENT Elizabeth Brabec, J.D., M.L.A. Position: Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, School of Natural Resources & Environment, The University of Michigan Interests: TheT legal and economic implications of land and resource conservation, historic and cultural landscape documentation evaluation and protection, cross-cultural participation in land-use planning and design processes Tina Hall, Ph.D. Position: Conservation Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Upper Peninsula Conservation Center, Michigan Chapter. Interests: Landscape-scale conservation; monitoring protected properties for conservation values v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSTU UT ................................................................................................ ii PROJECTTU MEMBERSUT ......................................................................................................iii PROJECTTU ADVISOR AND CLIENTUT ................................................................................ v TABLETU OF CONTENTSUT ................................................................................................... vi LISTTU OF TABLESUT ............................................................................................................. ix LISTTU OF FIGURESUT .........................................................................................................xiii ABSTRACTTU UT ...................................................................................................................... xv I.TU INTRODUCTIONUT ......................................................................................................... 16 I.1TU Why Protect America’s Forests?UT ............................................................................. 16 I.2TU What is a Working Forest Conservation Easement?UT ............................................... 16 I.3TU The StudyUT ................................................................................................................. 17 I.3.1TU Description........................................................................................................UT 18 I.3.2TU Importance of Research and Scope of AnalysisUT ............................................... 19 I.3.3TU ObjectivesUT ......................................................................................................... 19 I.3.4TU Research Questions..........................................................................................UT 20 II.TU LITERATURE REVIEWUT ............................................................................................. 22 II.1TU Working Forest Conservation EasementsUT .............................................................. 22 II.2TU Defining Characteristics: Forest Management RequirementsUT ................................ 23 II.2.1TU PurposesUT .......................................................................................................... 24 II.2.2TU RestrictionsUT ...................................................................................................... 24 II.2.3TU Forest Management Plans (FMPs)UT .................................................................. 25 II.2.4TU Best Management Practices (BMPs)UT ............................................................... 26 II.3TU Who Utilizes WFCEs?UT ........................................................................................... 27 II.4TU What May Be Protected?UT........................................................................................ 28 II.5TU Special Federal and State Conservation ProgramsUT ................................................. 28 II.5.1TU USDA Forest Service, Forest Legacy ProgramUT .............................................. 29 II.5.2TU Land for Maine’s FutureUT ................................................................................. 29 II.6TU Easement DraftingUT .................................................................................................. 30 II.6.1TU Easement PurposesUT .......................................................................................... 31 II.6.2TU Baseline DocumentationUT ................................................................................. 32 II.7TU Landowner Relations..............................................................................................UT 32 II.8TU Monitoring Conservation EasementsUT ..................................................................... 33 II.8.1TU Available Monitoring TechniquesUT ..................................................................