Utilizing the seller's interest in selling all the properties at once at a bargain price sale, combined with the sale of development rights, and, in some cases, public access to state agencies, Hull can then afford to purchase the encumbered fee interest and not overharvest or inappropriately manage the forest resource. Public purchases of conservation easements make economic sense. In contrast to public land acquisition, using easements as a protection tool keeps land in the tax base. Landowners continue to pay taxes on the land, while the property remains protected from development just as it would if state or federal agencies had purchased the land. Since only a portion of the rights is purchased, it's also a lot cheaper than buying the property outright.
Conservation easements hold benefits for the private landowner as well as for the public.
By reducing the value of the land, they reduce the onerous pressure of estate taxes, which often force heirs to an estate to sell off or develop the property just to pay Uncle Sam. Conservation easements allow landowners to maintain the rural character of the land and focus on managing the land sustainably for forestry or agriculture as they have done for perhaps decades or generations. The Peck Forestlands are primarily located within the Westfield and Farmington River watersheds and make up parts of five of the seven public drinking water supply watersheds in that area. Often land that is purchased outright by state or federal agencies is taken out of forest management. The land is no longer used as a resource to produce the forest products that we consume in New England and throughout the world.