Easements slow in Rappahannock as landowners opt for less stringent ways to protect property

The county’s Comprehensive Plan covers a lot of ground, but its top priority is unmistakable: Preserve Rappahannock’s  scenic beauty and protect its natural resources.

Time was when the option of choice in the community was to convert properties into conservation easements. That’s a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or land trust that forever limits future development on that land.

Between 2000 and 2010, in fact, 18,675 acres – almost 15 percent of the private land in the county – was placed in easement. Since then, however, the pace of those conversions has slowed significantly. Only 5,514 acres have been placed under that permanent protection. 

Instead, more landowners are opting for less absolute ways of protecting their properties, such as planting buffers of trees along streams or managing pastures differently.

“An easement isn’t necessarily the right tool for everyone,” said Laura O’Brien, the Piedmont Environmental Council’s (PEC) representative in Rappahannock. “Or it may not be the right time to consider it. So it’s great that there are now these other programs people can use to improve the stewardship of the county’s natural resources.”

A shifting market 

There are a number of reasons for the shift to different approaches. At the turn of the century, interest in conservation easements surged with the passage of the Virginia Land Conservation Incentives Act. It provided a 40% tax credit on the donated land, and credits that weren’t used could be sold.

Then, the economic downturn in 2007-2008 and its downward pressure on land values made the easement tax credits that much more attractive. But as land values have gone up, particularly in recent years, the easement enticements have lost some of their appeal.

Another factor in their softening market is that, in some cases, the commitments landowners needed to make with their land trust partners became more restrictive. 

“When these started out, it was kind of the Wild West of figuring out what kinds of restrictions could be enforced and what couldn’t be enforced,” said Jason McGarvey, the Communications and Outreach Manager at the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF), the leading land trust in the state. 

“There was maybe an overcorrection to micromanage. We had restrictions on what color you could paint your house,” he noted. “But we realized that those things were going to be very difficult to enforce and that they really didn’t matter to what our purpose was.

“Now we try to balance clear restrictions with some flexibility.  We understand that agriculture will change and we don’t want to make these properties unusable for how it might be in the future.” 

Much of the drop-off in easement partnerships in Rappahannock, however, comes down to a simple matter of supply. The arrangements tend to be made on large parcels of land, and many of those were converted during the boom period. In short, a lot of the low-hanging fruit has been picked.

“There was kind of a wave early on,” said David Massie, a conservation specialist with the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District (CSWCD). “I think most of the people who have lived here for a while have either put their land in easement or not. And they’ve made their decision.”

Sharing costs 

Also, during the past decade, the options for landowners who want to be better stewards of their land have increased considerably, and many programs include arrangements where agencies, such as CSWCD, and nonprofits, like the Piedmont Environmental Council and Friends of the Rappahannock, help cover the costs.

Massie said his agency has provided funding for a wide range of agricultural management measures from planting trees or installing fencing along streams to converting cropland into hay and pastures to dealing with soil erosion. 

Tree-planting, both along streams and in pastures and hay fields, has become one of the more popular practices. The nonprofit Friends of the Rappahannock, has been particularly active in this area, working with partners to plant almost 46,000 trees in Rappahannock County since 2014, according to Bryan Hofmann, the organization’s deputy director. That’s part of the group’s strategy to not just safeguard the river, but also keep those with properties near it engaged with their land. 

“That’s way better for the river now and in the future than if they sold out to subdivisions,” said Hofmann. “So it’s not just about protecting the stream. It’s making sure that agriculture is an attractive and viable industry because it’s way better for the habitat and water quality than alternative land uses.”

In some cases, trees have been planted on land already in easement. In others, it may serve as a conservation first step for landowners. Maggi Blomstrom, the PEC’s Rappahannock-Rapidan conservation initiative coordinator, shared an example of a landowner who initially had no interest in committing to an easement.  

“But they were interested in tree-planting,” she said. So we started with a volunteer tree-planting project. And he really liked the experience of having youth out there planting trees. After going through several seasons of tree-planting, they built up enough trust with PEC to start thinking about how a conservation easement might work for their land. But it took four years.”

Still, some landowners are never likely to go the easement route. Case in point is Bill Fletcher, one the bigger landowners in Rappahannock and someone whose family has lived in the county for seven generations.

“I can’t afford to sell my land for 38 cents on the dollar,” he said. “I mean, that’s basically what you get now if you put your land in easement. It’s different in different areas, but I can go through various properties in the county where an easement  has had a detrimental effect. 

“I believe in certain places going into scenic easement,” Fletcher added. “But it depends on how much land and how much you can afford to give away.”

COVID’s impact

It appears COVID has also had an impact on conservation easement activity in a number of ways. On the one hand, by increasing the appeal of property in rural areas, the pandemic has made some landowners wary of not being able to take advantage of rising real estate values by putting their land in easement. 

At the same time, it has brought a new crop of landowners into rural communities, many of whom know little about managing their land.

“From my experience, people who have moved recently out to rural areas don’t know a whole lot about agriculture or even owning land,” Massie said. “So they have to play catch-up to become more familiar with easements and conservation program opportunities”

He pointed out that a regional workshop last fall targeting new landowners in Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Greene counties attracted almost 100 people. Another session this spring in Madison County drew 60 participants.

In fact, environmental groups and agencies in the area have made a point of stepping up their outreach efforts to make landowners aware of the many conservation programs now available and how they can get help to pay for them.

On July 20, for example, PEC representatives will be part of an all-day, free “Sources of Conservation Funding” workshop at the Powers Farm and Brewery in Fauquier County. Registration at pecva.org/events.

“We can now really bring a whole suite of tools to each individual and each kind of property owner to see what they’re interested in,” said the PEC’s Blomstrom. “That can be the first building block for more conservation practices.”

Massie acknowledged that not every landowner will embrace the conservation programs, whether it’s an easement or other land management approaches. 

“These are voluntary programs and people are going to opt out for various reasons,” he said. “But in the bigger picture, I’d say I’m optimistic. I think the needle is moving in the right direction.”

Conservation easements | Pros & Cons

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or land trust that permanently limits development of the land and protects its conservation values. More than a million acres of private land in Virginia is now under easement.

Pros

• It preserves the property in its natural state in perpetuity, and the terms of the agreement apply to all future owners of the land.

• While there are restrictions on what can be done on the property, the owner continues to control the land and manage it for farming, forestry, recreational, wildlife habitat or other uses compatible with the agreement.

• Easements can be customized to fit the plans and goals for the property. 

• In Virginia, the owner can take advantage of a tax credit equal to 40% of the value of the easement. It can be used to offset state income tax liability. Unused credit can be gifted or sold.  

Cons

• Future value of property will likely be diminished.

• An easement can make it more difficult to sell a property

• Potential revenue sources, such as oil, gas or mineral rights would be forfeited, as well as wind turbines or some other future technologies.

• Representatives of the land trust will need to inspect property on a regular basis.

Local conservation programs

Agricultural Land Easements (ALE): The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides financial assistance to partners for purchasing these easements that protect the agricultural use of land. The program helps farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture, 

Rappahannock Headwater Stream Initiative: A joint initiative of the Piedmont Environmental Council and Friends of the Rappahannock through which technical assistance, project design, materials and labor are provided for the planting of trees.

Reforestation of Timberlands: The Virginia Department of Forestry provides financial assistance to landowners to promote pine reforestation.

Virginia Agricultural Cost Share: Program of Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District in which financial help is provided to support a range of agricultural practices including grazing land, stream exclusion management and tree-planting in pastures and hayfields. 

Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative: Launched by the Piedmont Environmental Council and the Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes in 2021, it focuses on educating landowners about the decline of grassland birds in the region, and provides financial incentives to encourage landowners to delay the cutting of hay or do summer pasture stockpiling. 

— Randy Rieland 

Foothills Forum is an independent, community-supported nonprofit tackling the need for in-depth research and reporting on Rappahannock County issues.

The group has an agreement with Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News, to present this series and other award-winning reporting projects. More at foothillsforum.org.