FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Kotker
Membership Coordinator
978-248-2055 | kotker@mountgrace.org

Project Led by Commonwealth Corps Volunteer

Court Action

The Massachusetts Land Court dismissed a law suit against The Trustees of Reservations (MA) brought by a neighbor to enforce a conservation restriction (Massachusetts name for conservation easement). The Court entered a final judgment ruling that the neighbor had no standing to enforce the conservation restriction.  

“This case required a large investment in time by our staff and outside legal counsel,” explained Chris Rodstrom, Director of the Conservation Restriction Program at The Trustees of Reservations, “but by prevailing we’re now in a stronger position to deal with any other abutters to our 340 conservation restrictions that attempt to unduly influence our stewardship program.”

This decision has limited precedential value because it is a judgment in the Trial Court; nonetheless, it still is useful for any land trust dealing with a neighbor that is threatening a lawsuit. It may also have some value in other lower courts especially coupled with the Tallman decision to show how other courts have dealt with the issue.

Background

The owner of the conserved land granted the conservation restriction in 2008 to the Trustees. The restrictions provided for a building envelope, access and utilities on the 36 acre property in a spot where a home and barn had previously stood. A year later, the land owner proposed to dismantle an existing historic home it owned elsewhere in town and move it into the building envelope. The neighbors, Frank and Jean Granara, objected alleging that the access would have to be widened to accommodate moving the house and would disturb 978 feet of bordering vegetated wetlands. The access driveway abuts the rear boundary of the Granaras’ home on a small lot.

The Trustees had reviewed and approved the landowner plans as consistent with the purposes of the restrictions. The Granaras sued the landowner, Stetson Kindred of America, Inc. for violating the restrictions and the Trustees for failing to enforce the restritions. The Granaras claimed that they personally benefit from the restrictions on the Stetson property since it increases their property values and therefore they have the right to enforce the restrictions. The Trustees countered that the Granaras’ lacked standing to sue and to enforce the restrictions and that in any event the contemplated actions are consistent with the restrictions. On joint motion of the parties, the court considered two issues: whether Stetson’s activities violate the restrictions and whether the Granaras have standing to enforce the restrictions.

The court held for the Trustees on all counts finding that only named holders in the restrictions have any right to enforce them.

“It helped to have a good conservation restriction stewardship program in place,” added Chris Rodstrom, “since we could demonstrate to the judge that our approval of the building was carefully considered and well documented.”

Recent Related Case

Elizabeth Tallman filed a case, (Tallman v. Outhouse, et. al.) against her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Outhouse, the owners of abutting property partially protected by a conservation easement, the Rockingham County Conservation District (conservation easement grantee) and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (executory interest holder in the conservation easement). Ms. Tallman claimed she had a third party right to enforce the easement, and that the Conservation District and the Forest Society were failing to enforce the terms. She also asserted a right of unfettered access to the protected property, which the Court rejected, upholding the landowners' right to post against and to control public access. Essentially, she sought a ruling that conservation easement prevented her neighbors from building their home on land not encumbered by the easement, and that the easement prevented access to the residence site. Elizabeth Tallman asked the Court to order that, among other things, the easement precluded the construction of the house and access to it, and that the conservation restrictions also extended to the excluded 1.23 acres as a result of an equitable servitude.

The neighbor’s legal positions required the easement holders to vigorously oppose the assertion that abutters have legal standing to interpret or enforce easements, or to restrict or utilize easement land for their personal goals.  There were other related disputes at issue in the lawsuit, but the critical matter for the Forest Society, and for the land conservation community as a whole, was the  whether abutters or other third parties can sue to enforce conservation easements granted to land trusts, municipalities and state agencies. The New Hampshire statute that authorizes conservation easements does not include an express statement that only the holders of a conservation easement have legal standing or a right to sue to enforce the easement.

This was essentially a dispute between neighbors that escalated to include both easement holders. One of the neighbors had very nice land subject to an existing conservation easement. The complaining abutter tried to use the easement as a sword for her personal purposes against the wishes, interpretation, and authority of the easement holders.  Voluntary settlement attempts proved fruitless. The court ruled explicitly that New Hampshire recognizes no third party right of enforcement, and further that the Outhouses’ plan to build a house on the unrestricted portion of their land cannot be viewed in any way as a violation of the easement. The court also acknowledged that the Outhouse’s use of the historic access route that crossed a small potion of the easement land was not a violation of the easement.  

The Court found for the defendants on all counts and also held that the easement did not require open access to the general public. This is what the Conservation District and Forest Society sought from the court and is a very good result for the NH land trust community.

For information please contact
Jay Rasku,
North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership Coordinator
(978) 248-2118
info@partnership.org

or
David Kotker,
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust Membership Coordinator
(978) 248-2055 x19 or
kotker@mountgrace.org

Community Marks Ten Years on the Tully Trail

ORANGE - Conservation partners ranging from state agencies to community based land trusts and trail volunteers met today in the Tully Mountain Wildlife Management Area to celebrate the tenth summer of the Tully Trail, a 22-mile loop which links together many of the area’s prominent natural landmarks.  “The tenth anniversary reminds us what the cooperation of local, state, and federal government can achieve when working together with private citizens and a fantastic land trust,” said Bob Durand, who was Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs during the Tully Initiative, “the land protection work inspired by this trail continues to support the working forests and rich biodiversity that exist in the Tully Valley today.”

Standing in front of the BioReserve Boulder, Durand addressed a crowd including hikers who began the day with a walk along several miles of the trail over the summit of Tully Mountain.  The event continued with an open house at Gale Farm, an ongoing project of Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, The Conservation Fund, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation that protects 72 acres abutting the trail.

Endorsed in 1997 as the second project of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, the trail was designed to provide an exceptional hiking experience while showcasing different conservation methods, including state forests, wildlife management areas, commercially managed forests, and privately protected areas.  “The Department of Fish and Game and our Division of Fisheries and Wildlife are proud to be one of many partners who have worked to protect habitat in the North Quabbin region and establish the Tully Trail,” said Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin. “The Tully Trail passes through conservation properties managed by state agencies and several conservation organizations, offering excellent hiking, scenic values, and wildlife observation opportunities for species such as white-tailed deer, wild turkey, black bear, raccoon, woodcock, songbirds, amphibians and other wildlife.”

Running past Tully Mountain, Tully Lake, Jacobs Ridge, the Royalston and Warwick state forests, and Doanes, Spirit and Royalston Falls, the loop also briefly joins the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, recently named the New England National Scenic Trail.

“The trail connected existing conservation areas into a recreation destination that became more than the sum of its parts,” said Mount Grace Director Leigh Youngblood, “even ten years later, Mount Grace still takes an active role in protecting the local landscape around the trail with projects like Gale Farm.”

The trail helped inspire increased land protection efforts like the Tully Initiative, in which the Commonwealth, Mount Grace, and other conservation groups acquired development rights to more than 9,000 acres.  “The Tully Trail is an excellent example of how conservation and recreation interests can work so effectively together,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Rick Sullivan. “Long-distance trails, like the Tully Trail, can help rally support for large scale land conservation initiatives, and in turn, landscape conservation provides exceptional opportunities for outdoor recreation of all kinds.  DCR is working to enhance our trails initiatives within our own state parks and forests, and continues to support partnership efforts, like the Tully Trail, through assistance and funding such as our Recreational Trails Grants program.”

Much of the land protected during the Tully Initiative was selected to link together existing protected lands in the area, providing a protected core for the North Quabbin BioReserve, more than 55,000 acres of protected land stretching from Northfield to Winchendon.  The BioReserve anchors the “Quabbin to Cardigan” initiative, which aims to conserve important forest resources from the Quabbin Reservoir to Mount Cardigan, New Hampshire. “Since its establishment in December of 2002, land conservation efforts have added 1,600 acres of land in the North Quabbin BioReserve.  We hope that a renewed focus on this important landscape will allow willing landowners to conserve additional working forests, farms, and natural areas that make this area so unique.” noted North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership Coordinator Jay Rasku.

Tully Trail partners include the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, Harvard Forest, the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, the National Parks Service, North Quabbin Woods, the New England Forestry Foundation, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the Trustees of Reservations, who manage, and maintain, most of the trail.  If you are interested in becoming a Tully Trail Steward, please contact Walker Korby at wkorby@ttor.org or 978-248-9455.  For information about the Gale Farm conservation project contact Nathan Rudolph at 978-248-2055 x18 or rudolph@mountgrace.org.

April 28, 2009 

Contact: Chris Soto
csoto@lta.org

Association Recognized for Innovation in Media and Publishing

Presented with two 2009 EXCEL Awards

Washington, DC—The Land Trust Alliance is being honored by the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) at its 29th Annual EXCEL Awards, which recognize the best and the brightest in association media and publishing.

As one of 181 winners selected from nearly 1,000 entries, the Alliance is being presented a Gold Award in the Magazines: Most Improved category and a Gold Award in the Magazines: Redesign category (submitted by Bates Creative Group) for taking bold chances and delivering excellence in the association industry.

“Congratulations to the Land Trust Alliance, one of the recipients of our EXCEL Awards,” said Amy Lestition, CAE, SNAP’s executive director, “These publications demonstrate the importance of conveying content in a variety of formats to our constituents. Bravo to the publication and media association professionals for their mastery of the field.”

“We went through a rigorous redesign process and this is a wonderful affirmation of our success,” said Chris Soto, editor of Saving Land, the winning magazine of the Alliance.

The Land Trust Alliance will be honored and celebrated at the 29th EXCEL Awards Gala on June 4, 2009. Award-winning entries are displayed at the EXCEL Awards Gala and are featured in the July/ August issue of Association Publishing. The Alliance may also be a winner of the distinguished EXTRA! Awards—presented to associations pushing the edge of the envelope further to innovate in an ever-changing publishing environment—which will be announced at the EXCEL Awards Gala in June. For more information on the Association Media and Publishing Conference and the EXCEL Awards Gala, visit www.snaponline.org.

For more information about the Land Trust Alliance, please visit www.landtrustalliance.org.

About the Land Trust Alliance: The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works on behalf of America’s 1,700 land trusts to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America. The Alliance works to increase the pace and quality of conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats.

About SNAP: SNAP is the one non-profit, professional society serving the needs of association publishers and communications professionals. Areas of expertise include: fostering effective relationships among publishers, communications professionals, and industry providers; developing and maintaining high editorial and advertising standards through our Excel Awards and Publications Review Program; providing members with the latest industry movements through bi-annual meetings, Lunch & Learn Seminars, the SNAP listserve, and Association Publishing, our bimonthly magazine; and, connecting professionals with career opportunities in association publishing through our Career Center.

Contacts:

Mary Metzger, HCT Volunteer Walk Leader Coordinator: 508-430-7099

Michael Lach, HCT Executive Director: 508-432-3997

The piano that mysteriously appeared in Harwich's Bell's Neck Conservation Lands has some people jumping on the musical bandwagon. The Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) has been inspired by the piano peculiarly positioned amidst oaks and pines and discovered by a hiker just before Thanksgiving.

In fact, HCT is so keyed up that it plans to orchestrate an outdoor musical stroll next summer with accompanying acoustic musicians at a walking trail in Harwich.

"For some reason, that piano in the woods instantly caught the attention of millions around the world. I was inspired to create a free walking tour of local conservation lands with musical interludes along the way. The image of a piano among the pines gives rise to so many musical possibilities," said Mary Metzger, HCT's Volunteer Walk Leader Coordinator.

"With a flute in the woods, cello at the herring flume, bluegrass near the salt marsh, we'll craft a musical tribute to land conservation," said Metzger.

If you play an acoustic instrument and would like to join the Wild Lands Musical Stroll, then call HCT at 508-432-3997 or email: hct@cape.com

The Harwich Conservation Trust coordinates land stewardship with the town for several popular conservation destinations.

"We're used to tackling midnight mystery dumpings of brush and trash, but a fine-tuned piano and wooden bench perfectly staged for an open-air concert has puzzled everyone. Maybe we can ride the wave of international piano publicity," said Ryan Mann, HCT's Outreach and Stewardship Coordinator.

If you're looking for a mystical explanation, then here's one. D. Isabel Smith, a founding Trustee of the Harwich Conservation Trust and Chair of the Town's Open Space Committee, passed away two years ago after a long, but dignified challenge with cancer. With grace, persistence, and a sparkling smile, Isabel succeeded in preserving hundreds of acres. It turns out that in addition to her conservation talents, she often sang and played the piano beautifully.

"She actually sang professionally in Boston at old West Church for many years. She was very talented with her voice and was always doing something," said her daughter, Kris Brennen.

Was Isabel's spirit returning with the piano to offer her heartfelt songs for open space? Who knows what will appear next? Maybe it will be a tuba at the Trust's Coy's Brook Woodlands. Or perhaps a violin will appear at the town's D. Isabel Smith Monomoy River Conservation Lands, 77 acres named in her honor just two weeks before she traveled on.

"We'll let you know if we discover any other musical instruments. Meanwhile, stay tuned," said Michael Lach, HCT Executive Director.

Photo by Jake O'Callaghan

Photo of fine-tuned Baldwin piano found Nov. 22nd in the Bell's Neck Conservation Lands is scrutinized by Harwich police Officer Derek Dutra

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