A perpetual land conservation agreement – a legal document known as a conservation easement – is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust, a private, nonprofit land conservation organization such as Black Swamp Conservancy. The agreement permanently limits a property’s uses in order to protect its conservation values. When a person donates or sells a land conservation agreement to a land trust such as our Conservancy, they permanently extinguish certain development rights, while binding future owners of the land to the terms stated in the agreement. Perpetual land conservation agreements help to protect the natural and agricultural lands of northwest Ohio while keeping them in private ownership. Protection may cover productive farmland, wildlife habitat, or scenic views. Most importantly, land conservation agreements ensure permanent protection of the land for the benefit of future generations!