Conservation Easements

Conservation easements are a controversial topic. Some support the practice, and those who oppose. Easements are placed on non-industrial private lands as well as industrial forest lands. The federal government is a prominent purchaser of easements and private property through the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program.

A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally binding agreement between a landowner and a qualified land trust or government entity that permanently limits uses of the land to protect ecological, historic, or scenic resources. Besides possessing a piece of land and paying taxes on it, landowners have rights to the land, such as the ability to subdivide, build structures, cut trees, mine for minerals, and other rights.  A conservation easement allows a landowner to retain ownership while restricting some of those rights to protect the property’s conservation values.  Those rights may include the right to possess, manage, use, modify, develop, lease, or sell your land.  In a conservation easement, landowners give up some, if not all, of those rights and are still obligated to pay taxes. Easements can be custom-designed and negotiated to meet the personal and financial needs of the landowner.  An easement may cover portions of a property or the entire parcel.  The easement will identify the rights the landowner wishes to retain, limit, or forgo. As with any other contract, it is wise to be informed and weigh the advantages and disadvantages, both short and long term, to having a conservation easement. 

Landowners need information on how conservation easements work, how they can be used in estate planning, and the tax consequences of conservation easements. 

List of Montana conservation easement holders

updated 10/16/2025