The Vermont Land Trust has established the Conservation Stewardship Program to monitor the conservation easements that we hold, and to make sure their goals are perpetually met. This program is supported in part by an endowment, which is funded through contributions from each conservation project and through other capital gifts. The stewardship endowment is kept separate from our general operating fund, so the Land Trust will always have income to help us meet our stewardship responsibilities. Because the Land Trust accepts these perpetual obligations of stewardship, we do not intend to go out of business. Yet if that were to happen, we have provided that all our conservation easements and stewardship endowments would be transferred to a similar nonprofit conservation organization.
Conservation easements are perpetual restrictions that run with the title to the land.
Only in rare circumstances are they changed. Any amendment to a conservation easement must be consistent with the terms and conservation intent of the original agreement. Changes may be allowed to correct an error or an ambiguity, to settle a condemnation proceeding, or to allow a minor modification that is consistent with the original conservation purpose. On conserved woodlands, a forest management plan must be prepared and approved before timber is commercially harvested. With a few additions, this plan can usually be the same as the forest management plan that a landowner prepares for enrollment in Vermont's Current Use Assessment Program.