How to Protect Your Land
There are multiple ways we can assist
Tools for Conservation
As a land trust, we offer several tools to help landowners protect their land. We may be able to work with you to find a protection strategy for your property that meets your conservation goals and financial needs and that is consistent with our mission and capacity.
MRT may acquire property through land donation, voluntary sale/purchase or we may hold certain rights to a property through a voluntary conservation easement. Working with private willing landowners, the McKenzie River Trust takes on the responsibility of ensuring that the land and its conservation values will be protected forever.
Would you like more information about how to conserve your land? Contact us or call our office at 541-345-2799 and ask to speak with our Land Protection Manager.
Multiple ways to protect
A conservation easement is one of the best ways for landowners to protect the qualities that make their land special while continuing to own their land.
Easements protect conservation values
Habitat for fish and wildlife, clean water, productive or scenic values are what we call conservation values. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and the McKenzie River Trust that is designed to protect the land’s conservation values.
Generally, easements limit or prohibit subdivision of a property, commercial and industrial activity, and activities that jeopardize the conservation values. In turn, the McKenzie River Trust assumes responsibility for monitoring the property on an annual basis to ensure that the easement is in compliance. Once the conservation easement has been negotiated, it becomes part of the property deed. Conservation easements are perpetual, ensuring that the intent of the landowner who granted the easement is honored, and the fish and wildlife habitat, clean water, and productive natural landscapes on the property are protected forever.
Conservation easements are tailored to each landowner’s needs, so no two easements are the same. For example, a landowner might want to forbid future subdivision or residential development while retaining the right to grow crops, graze animals or cut firewood. An easement may apply to an entire property or only a portion of the property, and need not require public access. For the McKenzie River Trust to work with a landowner, the conservation easement also needs to fit with our organizational mission and objectives.
Is a voluntary conservation easement right for you?
Here’s what you need to know:
- A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a nonprofit land trust – like the McKenzie River Trust – or a government agency that permanently limits certain uses of land in order to protect important conservation values such as water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and scenic open space. The landowner continues to own the underlying property.
- When you sell or donate a conservation easement to a land trust like MRT, you agree to give up some of the rights associated with owning land. Conservation easements can vary widely, but in all cases, future owners of the property also will be bound by the easement’s terms. The land trust is responsible for making sure the terms of the agreement are followed.
- A conservation easement allows you to continue to own and use your land and to sell it or pass it on to the next generation. By limiting the land’s development potential, the easement can lower your property’s appraised value. Consequently, a conservation easement can lower estate taxes and can make you eligible for a special property tax assessment from the state of Oregon.
- Most land trusts ask conservation easement donors to make a financial contribution to assist with the costs of monitoring and enforcing all of the land trust’s conservation easements in perpetuity.
Learn more
There are many good online resources about Conservation Easements. Here are a few that help answer frequently asked questions.
- The Land Trust Alliance, the national land trust umbrella organization, has some online resources for landowners here.
- Common Questions on Conservation Easements, a pdf from the Center for Collaborative Conservation.
In many instances, the most effective way to bring permanent protection to an important piece of property is to buy it. When the McKenzie River Trust buys the fee title interest in a property, we also take over management responsibility for the property for the long term. This differs from conservation easement properties, where the private landowner maintains all responsibility for land management.
Typically, the McKenzie River Trust works to buy fee title properties that are in close proximity to or have a relationship with other protected properties nearby. These areas with a high level of conservation investment are called anchor sites. Over time, work in these key areas by MRT and our partners can have a lasting impact on habitat and open space connectivity and help relieve pressure on adjacent lands from flooding and other landscape processes.
Donating property or easements for conservation is one of the most lasting legacies a person can leave to future generations.
A landowner may donate land for varying reasons: the landowner may not wish to pass the land on to heirs, the property may no longer be in active use or the owner might want or need to be relieved of the responsibility of managing and caring for land. On the financial side, a property‘s value may have increased dramatically, or the landowner may have other real estate holdings and may wish to reduce their estate tax liability. Landowners should consult their tax advisor and/or estate planner regarding the financial implications of any land transaction.
For many landowners whose primary concern is seeing the land protected forever, a donated conservation easement can be a great solution. If a donated conservation easement benefits the public by permanently protecting important conservation resources and meets other federal tax code requirements, it may qualify as a tax-deductible charitable donation. The amount of the donation is the difference between the land’s appraised value with the easement and its value without the easement.
A conservation easement or land donation requires not only a willing donor, but a qualified conservation organization like MRT to accept the donation. The donation must closely fit our charitable mission of protecting special lands and the rivers that run through them to ensure clean water, abundant fish and wildlife habitat and productive natural landscapes in western Oregon.
If the Trust accepts a donation of property because of its ecological and conservation values, it will be protected and managed by the Trust in perpetuity. Although the focus of McKenzie River Trust is on land conservation, other types of properties can also be donated, with the understanding that the organization may sell the land to support conservation work in our priority areas.
Explore Land Protection Stories with McKenzie River Trust
Leaving a Legacy at Coyote Creek Meadows
When Mary Minniti and Mike Shippey bought their 47 acre farm property 17 years ago, both buildings and land were clearly diamonds in the rough… with a heavy emphasis on rough.
“This living room ceiling was low and dark. It was like being in a cave: there were no windows providing a view of the wetland,” remarks Mary during a recent visit. “We thought we would move onto the land in five years, but we were spending every weekend here, so we just dove in. And we were here within 18 months.”
At the same time, Mike had looked on the heavily impacted land with promise. “Scattered among the meadow of planted forage grasses, I found many natives, including some rare ones, like Bradshaw’s lomatium.” An accomplished landscape architect, Mike set about to create Coyote Creek Meadows, a restoration project that included two wetland mitigation sites and a larger labor of love.
283 Acres of Rare Oak and Prairie Habitat Protected Forever in Eugene’s Ridgeline Area
In early September McKenzie River Trust ensured the permanent protection of 243 acres of rare oak woodland and savanna habitat just outside Eugene, OR. The project builds on initial conservation efforts in 2022, which leveraged membership donations to protect 40 adjacent acres for fish and wildlife habitat. Long identified by area partners as a potential “anchor” site in the ridgeline area, the South Fork Spencer Creek conservation area builds on the City of Eugene’s open space protection efforts, contributing significant habitat to the wildlife corridor.
Growing Finn Rock Reach – 636 Acres Protected on the McKenzie River
McKenzie River Trust took a major step forward to safeguard our namesake river last week by purchasing 636 acres of former timberland in Finn Rock, OR. The protection project, which begins near the town of Blue River and ends near Nimrod, returns three parcels to a growing mosaic of conservation lands in the middle McKenzie River Valley.
245 Acres Protected Forever on the North Fork Siuslaw River
Efforts to protect estuarine wetlands in the lower Sisulaw River watershed got a big boost this month with the addition of 245 acres of conservation land. Protected through a partnership between The Nature Conservancy in Oregon and McKenzie River Trust, with support from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and private donors, the area on the lower North Fork of the Siuslaw River provided the “missing piece of the puzzle” in a larger effort to promote a more resilient watershed through land protection and restoration activities.
A Living Legacy at Sweet Creek Forest
When Mat Purvis moved to Oregon in the early 1970s, he was excited to spend more outdoors. Growing up in urban Atlanta, Mat was accustomed to camping, hiking, and fishing but had always dreamed of owning a wilderness property. As a young physician with spare time, Mat leapt at an opportunity to pursue his dream when a colleague offered to sell him a tract of forest
on Sweet Creek.
430-acre Yakona Nature Preserve & Learning Center protected forever!
Local conservation organizations Yakona Nature Preserve and McKenzie River Trust have partnered to permanently protect 430 acres on the Yaquina River estuary. Founded by longtime Newport residents JoAnn and Bill Barton, Yakona Nature Preserve & Learning Center offers educational programming, community events, and guided access to the historic site. This month, the area was permanently protected through a conservation easement with McKenzie River Trust, ensuring the site’s future remains focused on serving the community through conservation, education, and building cultural connections.
Property Donation Protects Coho Salmon Habitat on Oregon Coast
In March of 2023, the Estergard family donated 85 of their original 300 acres of farmland on the North Fork of the Siuslaw River to McKenzie River Trust. The site, located a few miles upstream from the confluence with the mainstem Siuslaw River, provides important habitat for native species including Coho Salmon, lamprey, and waterfowl.
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