There are multiple ways we can assist
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.
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.
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.
Here’s what you need to know:
There are many good online resources about Conservation Easements. Here are a few that help answer frequently asked questions.
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.
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.
Thanks to the care of local landowners Trey and Tammie Hagen, 150 acres of riparian habitat and working lands, including roughly 45 acres of farmland and 50 acres of timber, have been protected forever through a working lands conservation easement with McKenzie River Trust.
In a historic land transaction, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians regained ownership of 27 acres of their ancestral homelands at Cape Foulweather on the central Oregon coast. The return of the land capstones a multi-year collaboration to protect the land’s ecological, cultural and scenic values.
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.
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.
Efforts to protect estuarine wetlands in the lower Siuslaw 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.
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.
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Take part in our guided tours and community events, and connect with the land and those who care for it.
Explore the beautiful landscapes we protect and learn why they matter.
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