Technical Assistance

Conservation Planning

• Developing a Conservation Plan

• Conservation Easements
  

Survey and Design
Although not exhaustive, the following is a list of  common conservation practices that are designed and constructed to serve a variety of purposes: enhance water quality, mitigate flooding, reduce erosion, and/or provide wildlife habitat.

• Waterways

• Ponds

• Wetlands

• Subsurface Drainage Tile

• Open Ditches

• WASCOBs

• Riparian Buffers / Filter Strips

• Stream Bank Stabilization

         Developing a Conservation Plan                         

Anyone who owns land can benefit from a conservation plan.  Whether the land is urban, agricultural, or non-agricultural, free consulting services are available from Steve Boeder, our NRCS District Conservationist.  A site visit includes a general inventory of your existing resources (animals, plants, water, soil, etc.), which can be vastly different from one property to another.  This is followed up by recommendations for technical conservation practices tailored to your ideas and existing resources; these may include various types of seeding, planting schedules, or engineered structures such as waterways, wetlands, or buffer strips.          

There are many USDA conservation programs available on a cost-shared basis, which can benefit property owners who want to take good care of their land. Check out the Cost Share Programs link on the menu bar. In order to qualify for these programs, a property owner is required to have a conservation plan in place. 
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                                   Conservation Easements

                      
                         
Musselman Farm in Perry Township, the first in Montgomery
County to have development rights donated to a conservation easement.

In the last several decades, there has been an increasing loss of prime agricultural land and other open spaces to urban development.  Farmers and other conservation-minded people have established a program to protect the soil, water, air, plants, and wildlife of our open spaces from future urban land uses. 

A conservation easement is a restriction of the property owner’s right to develop the land for urban uses (roads, subdivisions, industrial parks, etc.).  Furthermore, it is a voluntary, legally recorded agreement between the landowner and a qualified conservation organization; the conservation organization, such as The American Farmland Trust, or Montgomery SWCD, accepts responsibility for monitoring and enforcing the restrictions. 

While an easement removes the development rights, the landowner still holds the title to the property, the right to restrict public access, and the right to sell, give, or transfer the property.  One of the fundamental rights of property ownership is also the right to donate or sell an interest in the property. A purchase of development rights program has been created by the passage of Issue 1 in 2000.  Now known as the Clean Ohio Fund, the program will be administered through the Ohio Department of Agriculture beginning in 2002.

Conservation easements are flexible documents, tailored to suit the needs of the landowner and his or her property.   Some limited development may be allowed, such as the construction of new farm buildings, a house for family members, or a lot for resale.  The easement may be written to apply to the entire property or a portion of it.

Federal, state, property, and estate tax benefits are available, depending on your location and the terms of the easement.  Additional values include helping to maintain the viability of a region’s agriculture, and a way for people to work together to protect their area’s scenery, natural resources, and quality of life.