A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values. It allows you to continue to own and use your land and to sell it or pass it on to heirs.

When you donate a conservation easement to a land trust, you give up some of the rights associated with the land. For example, you might give up the right to build additional structures, while retaining the right to grow crops. Future owners also will be bound by the easement's terms. The land trust is responsible for making sure the easement's terms are followed.

Conservation easements are specific to the needs of each landowner, and landowners who donate easements may gain substantial savings in income, gift, and estate taxes.

For more information on conservation easements visit:

• Gallatin County Open Space Grant Program
• Gallatin Valley Land Trust
• Land Trust Alliance
• Montana Land Reliance
• The Nature Conservancy of Montana
• The Trust for Public Land

The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care

The Conservation Land Network also works with new owners of Priority Properties, connecting them with natural resource, wildlife, and habitat experts who can help support good stewardship practices.

Difficult to define, stewardship a term that is easier to describe. Land stewardship is almost parental in nature. You provide for and nurture your land as you would a child, always doing your best to insure its health and well being for the future. Stewardship is an attitude, a dedication to doing the best we can for the land.

For many private landowners, this connection to the land is also a commitment to seeing their own children and grandchildren inherit land that is as good or better than when their parents or grandparents began their stewardship.

How does one become a good land steward? Learn about your land, whether it's 10 or 10,000 acres. Find the best ways to manage your land for the uses you have in mind, and get help if you need it. Think about the health of the whole system, the air, the soil, water quality, fish and wildlife habitats, plant life and insects. Admire the beauty of the land and take satisfaction in its care and improvement. Relish the time you have with your land and leave it as best you can for tomorrow's land stewards.