The Brunswick Topsham Land Trust is one of 95 local land trusts in Maine. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and work with willing landowners to conserve land through acquisition and conservation easements. Landowners may want to conserve their land into the future to protect habitat or view sheds, to keep a parcel from being subdivided, or to keep land available for traditional access, agricultural, or natural-resource-based economic activity. Each conservation project is unique, and BTLT is happy to work with landowners to work out the specific vision they may have for their land over the long term. Once land is protected, BTLT has an ongoing legal responsibility to care for it (if they own it) or to monitor it annually (to ensure that the terms of a conservation easement are honored).

We use two primary methods to protect land.

Conservation Easements

A conservation easement is a restriction on the use of a parcel of land that remains in place permanently. An individual's interest in his or her land has many components: the right to develop the land, to use it for farming or as a woodlot, to cut fields, or to pave it. A conservation easement is a method by which a landowner transfers away the ability to develop the property in certain ways. A land trust "holds" the conservation easement—meaning it is permanently charged with monitoring the land to ensure that the restrictions on future development are honored. BTLT has a fiduciary obligation to oversee lands for which it holds conservation easements. Granting a conservation easement allows a landowner to continue to own and enjoy the land.

The benefits of a conservation easement are that it permanently attaches to the land and that it can be very specifically crafted to deal with a certain piece of land and the wishes of a landowner. For instance, a landowner may allow for development of another home on a parcel, allow or disallow public access, regulate cutting of forested land, or require certain aspects of the land to be preserved. The landowner may still sell the land or transfer it by will or gift. The protections continue even though the landowner no longer owns the property.

The landowner may take an income tax deduction for the difference in value between the value of the land without the easement restrictions and its value with the restrictions. There may be property tax benefits as well.

Fee Ownership

Over the years, BTLT has received several pieces of property as gifts from generous donors. There are several ways a gift can be made. Landowners should discuss the potential income tax implications of each method with their own tax advisor, but the guidelines noted below are a place to start in thinking about the financial implications of any gift.

• An outright gift of land allows the donor to deduct the fair market value of the land for income tax purposes. It also has the advantage of avoiding capital gains tax that might otherwise be due upon sale of the land.
• A gift with a retained life estate allows the donor to continue to use the property during his or her lifetime, or the lifetime of another named person, after which time the land is transferred to BTLT. The difference between the fair market value of the property at the time of the gift and the actuarially determined value of the lifetime interest retained is deductible for income tax purposes.
• A bequest can be made in a will. In many cases, the charitable gift means that the entire fair market value of the land is deducted from the donor's estate.

On occasion, BTLT has purchased land of extraordinary conservation value. The 160 acres of Crystal Spring Farm South were purchased in 1998 after a five-year capital campaign, and the trust is currently in the midst of a second campaign to raise money to purchase an additional 162 acres at this property. In general, BTLT does not have the ability to purchase land outright because we are a small, community-based organization, but landowners should feel free to contact us and discuss options. A blend of an outright gift and an outright purchase of land by BTLT is a "bargain sale" whereby a landowner realizes a charitable deduction for the difference between the fair market value of the land and the reduced price that the trust pays for the land.

Please feel free to discuss your conservation interests with BTLT's staff. There are many variations of outright gifts and conservation easements that may suit your particular goals. BTLT is an experienced partner in working with landowners to realize their plans for land that has special conservation value to them.