Articles

The proverb “Good fences make good neighbors” may be intentionally ambiguous, but as far as land trusts are concerned, clear boundaries should be anything but ambiguous. Unfortunately, individuals who own property adjacent to conserved land sometimes, intentionally or not, fail to respect boundaries. They might trespass on the land or claim to have the right to enforce the easement on their neighbor’s property.

For years, your land trust has collaborated with the landowners of a protected parcel to provide good stewardship of the land and avoid potential conflicts. They’re fourth-generation farmers who appreciate the value of good soil as much as you do, and their love of the land has been passed down from generation to generation.

When my mother-in-law passed away and we sold her house, in her kitchen sat the same fridge — in perfect working condition — that was installed 40 years earlier when the house was built. As I ran my hand over the relic, I wondered how many times I have replaced my own fridge, obviously a much newer model. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. Nothing is built to last anymore.

Although conservation easements are written to last forever, most land trusts would agree that it is impossible to foresee every situation that may arise in the future. How can land trusts handle this ambiguity and prevent costly, time-consuming violations from occurring?

In a David and Goliath victory for land conservation, a small land trust in upstate New York won in a big way in the arena of conservation defense.

Whenever two parcels of land share a common boundary, disputes are sure to happen. These disputes often result in an adverse possession claim, one of the more common challenges that landowners, and land trusts, face