Donate Your Land to Support Local Wildlife

What Is a Conservation Easement?

Conservation easement programs are incredible tools that allow CLAW to preserve wildlife habitat in Los Angeles neighborhoods home to threatened and endangered species, as well as some of the most valuable real estate in the world. By offering tax incentives to keep habitat undeveloped, conservation easements provide financial support to private property owners that allow land trusts and conservation groups to maintain wildlife corridors and biodiversity throughout Los Angeles.

As much as 60% of habitat critical to the survival of threatened and endangered species throughout the US lies on private lands, so these programs are essential to preserve species that are increasingly threatened by development and climate change.

Conservation easements provide a much more cost-effective method to preserve habitat and are growing increasingly popular as people become more concerned about humanity’s impacts to the natural environment. Protecting biodiversity is becoming an internationally recognized priority, illustrated by the 30by30 concept introduced by the UN. Conservation easements will be a crucial tool to help preserve wildlife habitat in the coming years, and CLAW intends to continue acting as the liaison for private property owners, to allow them to reap the financial benefits of limiting development in beautiful Los Angeles.

How Can I Qualify?

Funding for easements is made available through various pieces of legislation passed by Congress including the Farm Bill and is made available to landowners cooperating with 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trusts, like the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, in the form of tax breaks honored by the Internal Revenue Service.

To qualify, landowners must enter into a legal agreement, whereby they voluntarily surrender their rights to use or develop the property to the land trust, to be held in perpetuity, protecting the land from development by subsequent owners of the property. The amount of the tax deduction is calculated by measuring the reduction in property value before and after the conservation easements are put in place, ensuring that landowners receive a proportional benefit to their potential financial forfeit should the property be sold. In some jurisdictions, this tax reduction is further bolstered by a reduction in annual property taxes, providing immediate financial benefits to the landowner.

If you want to learn more, or see if your land could qualify for a conservation easement, please contact Tony Tucci at tony@clawonline.org.

Please note that we are only conducting assessments in Los Angeles County at this time.