By Jennifer Somers

With limited government funding available for acquisition of open space, organizations like the Bayou Lands Conservancy provide methods to ensure the protection of aesthetically and environmentally valuable pieces of private land throughout the greater Houston/Galveston area. The Bayou Lands Conservancy is the land trust program of the Bayou Preservation Association, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection, restoration, and conservation of environmentally sensitive riparian lands. Through the use of conservation easements – restrictions landowners voluntarily place on specified uses of their property to protect it's natural, productive, or cultural features – the Bayou Lands Conservancy, in partnership with private landowners, has protected hundreds of acres of land, while simultaneously offering tax benefits to participating land owners.

Founded in 1966 by Terry Hershey, the Bayou Preservation Association encourages the preservation of the region's bayous for multiple uses including linear parks, hike and bike trails, urban wildlife corridors, and stormwater management.

In 1994, Terry Hershey was once again the impetus behind the creation of a related program, the Bayou Lands Conservancy. Mrs. Hershey was instrumental in organizing volunteers around the use of conservation easements to preserve precious tracts of land. What started out as a group of very committed volunteers, transformed into a viable program in August of 1995 when the Bayou Lands Conservancy hired David Behm as Director of Conservation.

The Bayou Lands Conservancy (BLC) works with landowners to tailor the terms of the easement to protect the land as well as meet the owner's personal land management and financial goals. Because the easement is a perpetual encumbrance on the development potential of the property, the BLC ensures that the terms of the easement are followed and is responsible for monitoring the property in perpetuity. This important responsibility, referred to as easement stewardship is funded by an additional tax deductible gift from the easement donor to the BLC. The interest from this gift covers the BLC's expenses for its annual monitoring site visit to the protected property.

While Bayou Preservation Association's other conservation efforts have primarily focused on protecting riparian land within Harris County, Bayou Land Conservancy chose to undertake a more regional approach to conservation of riparian lands, reaching out to the greater Houston/ Galveston area and beyond. The result of their efforts has ensured, for example, a natural sanctuary on Dickinson Bayou. Because of a jointly negotiated conservation easement agreement between the BLC and Edgar and Graeme Marston, private landowners southeast of downtown Houston; 15 acres of riparian forest is protected from development. The Marstons have enjoyed a plethora of aesthetic benefits from Dickinson Bayou for many years. When 15 acres of undeveloped land came up for sale in 1995, the Marstons purchased the plot of land, and within months donated a conservation easement to the BLC.

Protecting aesthetically and environmentally valuable pieces of property through conservation easements is becoming an increasingly popular method of reaping some significant tax benefits, while at the same time protecting the environment. The binding agreement between BLC and the Marstons prohibits any development on the land except for any that is compatible with a relatively natural preserve. The donation to BLC also generated tax benefits for the Marstons which helped to offset some of the cost of the land. The terms of the conservation easement protecting the 15 acres of Dickinson Bayou significantly reduced the appraised value of the Marston's property and, subsequently, the property taxes as well. In accordance with federal tax law, the Marstons are permitted to deduct the value of their conservation easement donation from their federal income taxes over a period of up to six years.

Landowners have a wide variety of choices when it comes to setting up a conservation easement agreement. In preserving valuable land and resources, landowners can simultaneously enjoy financial benefits, including perhaps reductions in their income, estate, and property taxes. Each conservation easement agreement is designed to meet their particular financial needs. The Bayou Lands Conservancy provides landowners with a multitude of options to preserve the sanctity of their land, while protecting the land from future development encroachment.

The Bayou Land Conservancy has worked with other private landowners to preserve environmentally significant pieces of land. For example in December of 1996, BLC worked to protect 480 acres on Cypress Creek in Waller County. Owned by John, Tom, and Mavis (Jr.) Kelsey and their six children, the Live Oaks Ranch property along Cypress Creek includes a riparian gallery forest comprising large hardwood trees forming a dense canopy. The property also includes wetlands and grasslands as part of the Katy Prairie. The area is particularly significant for migratory waterfowl and it is an important rest area for neotropical song birds completing their annual spring migratory flight across the Gulf of Mexico. As in the case of Dickinson Bayou, BLC worked with the Kelsey family to secure the sanctity of the upper portion of the Cypress Creek watershed.

There are many opportunities for the public to learn more about conservation easements this year. In April, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is sponsoring Conserving Texas Landscapes: Strategies for Landowners. This third annual statewide land conservation conference will be held April 17 - 18 in McAllen, Texas. The conference will focus onconservation management, conservation tools for landowners, landowner incentive programs, and land trust operations. The BLC's David Behm served on the conference program committee for the third consecutive year and will also make several presentations this April, including a conservation easement primer. For more information on this conference, please contact Shirley Hoes at Texas Parks and Wildlife (512) 389-4868 or shirley.hoes@tpwd.state.tx.us.

To learn more about Conservation Easements in the greater Houston/Galveston area, please contact Bayou Lands Conservancy at (281) 992-8134.