Land and Water
Land protection agreements permanently protect private land from development so that future generations can benefit from working lands, wildlife habitat, and clean water. PPLT works in Lewis & Clark, Powell, Jefferson, and Broadwater counties and nearby lands. We take great pride in providing resources and tools to landowners who love Montana and are dedicated to its future.
Land Protection FAQs
What is a land protection agreement?
Land trusts use two primary tools to protect land – conservation easements and fee title acquisitions.
What is a conservation easement?
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a qualified conservation organization, like Prickly Pear Land Trust, designed to permanently protect the conservation values of the land. These values include clean water, wildlife habitat, and working farms and ranches.
Conservation easements limit the development potential of a property, so the land will remain open for generations to come. Each agreement is unique, tailored to meet the needs of the landowner and the special qualities of the land. Landowners who place a conservation easement on their property continue to own the land and are free to carry on traditional land uses, sell it, and pass it on to their heirs.
What is a fee title acquisition?
A fee title or fee-simple is the most common type of property ownership in the United States and gives the purchaser full ownership over the property rights. When funding is available, land trusts may acquire land to hold for conservation and public access or donate to public lands. Prickly Pear Land Trust partners with public and private stakeholders to purchase land.
What are the benefits to a landowner of a conservation easement?
PLANNING
Conservation easements are useful tools for landowners because they make it easier to plan for future uses, ensure that the property can be passed on intact to future generations, and may lower estate taxes.
FINANCIAL
Tax benefits are possible when conservation easements are donated. Certain circumstances allow for the purchase of conservation easements, which can provide financial security for active ranching and farming operations.
LEGACY
Nationwide, we lose three acres of agricultural land every minute, and private forests and wildlife habitats are also shrinking. Montana is now one of the fastest-growing states in the country. Skyrocketing land prices, drought, and economics continue to squeeze family farms and ranches. Easements allow landowners to buck those trends and pass on the gift of open space and wild landscapes.
What are the community benefits of land protection?
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
Montana is a significant player in our nation’s agricultural sector, and through conservation easements, we can secure working lands of an appropriate scale to meet growing food production needs. Farmers and ranchers are innately conservation-minded, as their bottom lines depend on their ability to be natural resource managers – what’s good for the land is good for them.
CLEAN WATER
Keeping waterways and floodplains open and free of residential development allows our rivers and streams to function naturally, limiting flood damage to homes and keeping our drinking water safe.
HABITAT
Montana’s most inspiring species – elk, bear, lynx, owls, wolverine, cutthroat trout, mountain lions, and more – live large portions of their lives on private lands and depend on those lands for shelter, food, breeding, and migration corridors. Private land conservation expands the availability of large, connected tracts of critical habitat.
RECREATION
While all conservation easements add value to our public lands by supporting ecosystems and buffering them from floods and wildfires, a number of private landowners allow public hunting, fishing, birdwatching, and even biking and trail running.
What is land stewardship?
Our partnership with landowners continues after deeds are filed and conservation easements are recorded. Our stewardship staff meets with landowners annually to ensure conservation values are protected and to act as a resource for them.
