Conservation easements are pretty inspiring documents. One would not imagine to find the IRS tax code extolling the virtues of "a soothing vista" for the traveling public. But it does say that referring to scenic open space.

Susan Lohr, director of the Conservation Assistance Program, has the knowledge and love of the subject to point out these details. The word "easement" doesn't actually mean what we think it does. "Most people think of an easement as a right of passage, and in fact it is a right of passage through time for land to stay intact," Lohr said.

In a recent barbecue at the Hotchkiss Fire Station, those who work for land trusts and those who have put land in conservation easements had a get-together. After all, they have accomplished a lot for this earth and in particular the North Fork Valley and Delta County. Land has been preserved for future generations into perpetuity.

The Conservation Assistance Program (CAP) has provided the expertise necessary to put together the easements, and at no cost to landowners. Formed in February 2005, CAP is funded by West Elk Mine of Mountain Coal Company LLC and jointly administered with the Western Slope Environmental Resource Council (now known as NFRIA-WSERC Conservation Center). Susan Lohr was hired within the first year to be the director. She and consultant Nomi Gray help landowners through the process of putting their farm land, wildlife habitat or scenic open space into forever easements.

Some say the "devil is in the details." That may be true, but the reward is preserving some heaven here on earth, and like heaven, it is forever.

Over 70 easements have been placed in the North Fork Valley by CAP. That amounts to 8,300 acres that will be preserved.

Why would a coal mine want to be involved in preserving land in conservation easements? As Wendell Koontz of West Elk Mine explains, "People who work at the mine also enjoy things like open space, outdoor recreation. Lots of them are farmers and ranchers on the side. We thought it was consistent with the lifestyle and values of our employees and also Arch Coal (parent company of Mountain Coal)."

CAP doesn't target land. "This is all voluntary by the landowners," Koontz stated.

Sarah Sauter, executive director of The Conservation Center, said the agreement between Mountain Coal and their organization is one of the things they are most proud of. "I think that's the best way we can make a lasting legacy for this community," Sauter said.

Elaine Brett, who serves on the board of directors for the Black Canyon Regional Land Trust, said they recently approved the Hotchkiss Family conservation easement of 145 acres. The land trust has an office in Ridgway and plans to have another in the North Fork Valley next year. Black Canyon Regional Land Trust has at least 35,000 acres in easements in Delta County. "It's a very conserving kind of county," Brett said.

Norman and Dorothy Kehmeier in Eckert have placed over 280 acres in conservation easements. Their son, Paul, said it was actually his older brother who first broached the topic. The farm had been in the family for about 115 years. The Kehmeier easement was the first in Delta County. They worked with Black Canyon Land Trust and then his mother started the Tongue Creek Project. Lohr worked with that trust company as well.

The Kehmeiers were interested in the conservation easements to keep the property in the family and from future subdivision. When Paul's parents learned of the tax benefits, it became even more attractive.

How can anyone preserve something forever?

"There is a pretty broad basis of law nationwide about conservation easements," Lohr said. "It started soon after the Wilderness Act in the late '60s. Conservation easements live in the tax code. They are part of the charitable section of the tax code. This is federal law. What the Congress did was tell the IRS in a law they passed in the early 1970s that there is value to the public that certain lands stay intact. Those values are open space, relatively natural habitat, scenic beauty, historic features and productive agriculture. Then they gave all of that to the IRS to make code about it. It's three or four pages of the charitable section of the tax code."

According to Lohr, "The courts are very interested because the IRS is very interested in making sure that [conservation easements] are permanent."

There are many court cases where the next owners don't want the conservation easement. Perhaps they would rather build houses. In that case, Lohr said, when the land trust would discover the violation, a lawsuit would be filed in district court. Judges would impose sanctions. Cease and desist orders would be sent. "In a couple of cases, people have gone to jail. It's very serious to try and break a conservation easement," Lohr said.

An easement doesn't eliminate the potential for eminent domain by the government, but they would have to compensate the family. This is rare and usually it's for a strip of land to widen a highway.

Lohr said, "The development rights are permanently retired." Easements are recorded properly and in a title search, the restrictions would be known. Just because land used for agriculture is put in an easement and it becomes economically not viable, that is not a reason to allow development.

Enough water rights have to stay with the land to keep those values through time. If all the senior water rights are needed for agriculture on the land, they stay with the property. If a ditch company owns the water rights, they are removed from the market.

Amanda Nims, land protection specialist with Colorado Open Land states conservation easements help property values because the land can't be developed. For example if a property is worth $100,000 and the development rights are valued at $75,000, the value of the easement would be $25,000.

Nims added, the federal government requires a baseline report of the property that is being conveyed to the land trust. That document is used as a basis to monitor the property once a year. That federal requirement is to make sure the land is still in the same condition as when it was conveyed. "This is the way it is to be forever," Nims said.