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Land Protection: Conservation Easements Add Options

Conservation easement programs expand options for landowners and land trusts to preserve Hoosier heritage.

Support for Farmland Preservation Inspires Expansion

The Wood-Land-Lakes Land Trust has been partnering with landowners to protect farms and farmland for 26 years, beginning in Elkhart County. The original by-laws guided their work in six priority counties, but also includes the prophetic phrase “not limited to,” a sign the original board could envision a program or reason to include a possibility to expand beyond the original six counties.

Opportunities to expand their services to serve a growing interest in farmland conservation started to occur in 2003 until eventually projects had been completed in 11 counties; 38 conservation easements protecting 11,486 acres.

In 2023 the board decided to officially embrace the “not limited to” language and offer preservation options in all Indiana counties, and to work with farmland owners interested in the

Trillium blooms in a forest protected by a conservation easement held by Wood-Land-Lakes Land Trust

USDA ALE program. The ALE program pays farmland owners up to 50% of the development rights value which is typically donated to the land trust with a conservation easement.

With only a few land trusts in Indiana focusing on farmland preservation, and even fewer able to provide the resources required for the ALE program, WLL’s experience, ability and willingness to work with this program is important for everyone interested in preserving farmland, farming, and farm families.

“Our hope is it will encourage more farmland owners to consider a conservation easement.” Said board member, Mike Yoder.


Farm Easement Programs Grow

The word is getting out about Farmland Conservation Easements and protecting land in perpetuity. This protection helps provide assurance for food security and fiber production within local communities.

George Rogers Clark Land Trust is working with several landowners to place voluntary conservation easements on their property, working with the USDA NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) to apply for funding for the purchase and closing of easements.

The latest easement lies within the Blue River Watershed in Harrison County. Part of this farm has been in the family for 200+ years. It provides grassland and timber resources for production and alternatively provides wildlife habitat and water quality protections in this karst region of Indiana. Several threatened and endangered species will benefit from this permanent protection.

Harrison County landowners can apply for and potentially secure funding from the county government’s Farmland Protection Program, which can help offset their costs for placing these perpetual easements. The farmland protection initiative in Harrison County is unique among Indiana counties.


Mitigation Projects Protect Endangered Bats

Sycamore Land Trust is working with conservation partners on projects to restore and protect critical habitat for Indiana bats, which have been listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Sycamore Land Trust has partnered with ecological restoration companies including Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) and Magnolia to add new conservation easements that protect Indiana bat habitat.

RES and Magnolia acquire and restore land in critical habitat locations and sell mitigation credits to companies developing wind-farm projects in other locations of Indiana where Indiana bats are negatively impacted.

Sycamore serves as the holder of the conservation easements, and will monitor these protected properties to ensure that RES is adequately restoring them and that they remain protected forever.

Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve provides roosting habitat and a diversity of insects for Indiana bats.

Since 2021, Sycamore has protected over 750 acres of summer habitat close to known Indiana bat hibernacula (winter caves) including Ray’s cave in Greene County, Indiana, and Jug Hole cave, the second largest Indiana bat hibernacula in the United States. Sycamore expects to take on a total over 1,000 acres of conservation easement specifically to protect Indiana bat habitat.


Read the State of the Lands 2024 edition in full: get the pdf.