The Purchase of Scenic Easements and Wisconsin's Great River Road

Abstract

In the early 1950s, Wisconsin initiated the nation's first major state-supported program to acquire conservation easements when it began to purchase scenic easements on land along the highways adjacent to the Mississippi River-the Great River Road. This program became an early model for other conservation easement acquisition programs in the nation. Today, programs to purchase conservation easements are still viewed as an important planning tool for permanently protecting land from development; yet, very little is understood about the true nature of such protection. This article examines the experiences of Wisconsin's Great River Road program in an effort to begin to understand the constraints and limitations to the “perpetual” protection offered by conservation easements. Conservation easements can be modified or terminated; they can also be subject to political influence. I conclude that placing a conservation easement on a parcel of land is not the final step in achieving long-term protection. Conservation easement holders must formulate a long-term strategy to uphold the intent of these easements and ensure that their use remains in the public interest.