Easements as a development control in the United States

Abstract

During the 1960's and 1970's, people in the United States became more and more concerned about the loss of valuable natural and cultural resource sites to urban development. Zoning often has proved insufficient protection against land conversion. Easements have become increasingly popular as a means of protecting critical ecosystems, prime farmland, spectacular scenery, and historic landmarks. Many local and state governments and some federal agencies now have on-going programs for the purchase of easements. Private conservation organizations also acquire easements, but more frequently through the solicitation of gifts than through purchase. Because easements permanently prohibit or inhibit development, they reduce the value of land. Their cost, if they are purchased, is the difference between the value of the land before their acquisition and its value for uses allowed under the easement. Federal tax policy has fostered gifts of easements to approved organizations by allowing land-owners to deduct from their income the value of such gifts. This paper describes the use of, and experience with, easements by governments and private groups. Although easements have achieved widespread acceptance as a land-use control which is both effective and fair, substantial expansion of their use in the United States is likely to be contingent on improvement in the domestic economy.