A land trust is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to protect natural, scenic, recreational, agricultural, historic, or cultural property. It can be either local, regional, or national in scope. It acts in the public interest, to acquire, protect and manage property.
A land trust can acquire land directly through purchases or donations. Since a land trust is a non-profit organization, donations are tax-deductible. In cases where land has greatly appreciated, this can be a very significant deduction.
A land trust can also acquire conservation easements that restrict the uses of a piece land to those that are compatible with the trust's purposes. Each conservation easement is tailored to a particular piece of land and to the desires of the landowner. The value of that easement (and the value of the donation, if the easement is donated to the land trust) is the difference between the value of the land with full development rights and its appraised value minus the easement rights. In accepting an easement, the land trust guarantees that the property covered by the easement will be preserved according to the wishes of the owner, who still retains title to the property. The owner can sell the property, so long as the buyer agrees to abide by the terms set forth in the easement.
In the Interior, there are several purposes that a land trust might serve. Private land that people acquired 30-40 years ago has increased tremendously in value. Often these are large parcels, and their owners find that their heirs would be required to sell some of the land just to pay the inheritance taxes. If the owners donate a conservation easement to a land trust, they get a tax- deduction for the donation, the property value and the corresponding estate tax are lowered, and in addition the land is kept intact and protected from development. Another use for a land trust would be to protect particular elements of importance to the community, such as a greenway along the Chena River, or trail right-of-ways.