Shifting Ground: Conservation Easements
When Forever Ends, Johnson County, WY March 11, 2008 |
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A conservation easement placed on the C Bar B Ranch in 1993 was designed to permanently conserve the scenic and environmental resources on the property. But nine years later, when the company owning mineral rights under the Ranch decided to pursue coal bed methane development, owner Fred Dowd believed that conservation of the land would no longer be possible. He bought back the development rights from the Scenic Preserve Trust of Johnson County and terminated the easement, which sent Dowd and the Trust to the Wyoming Supreme Court. Easements have been used to protect millions of acres of land from development and are considered one of the conservation field's strongest tools. As landscapes and streetscapes change and converge, so-called "permanent" easements may not always be in the best interests of communities, landowners or the environment. Still, extinguishing easements brings up a host of legal and ethical concerns, and the story of Fred Dowd and the C Bar B Ranch is one with implications far beyond this 1,000 acre piece of land and the community it is dividing: When circumstances change and a conservation easement's original purposes come into question, can the agreement be undone? And, if so, who gets to decide when "forever" ends? Read more >> |