Land Stewardship - Preserving the Land |
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However, this will not guarantee the protection of the land throughout a succession of future financial arrangements with the layering of new participants and/or a decline in the IHM congregation's numbers and presence. Because we recognize the sacredness of our land, we want to ask the question, "How can the IHM Community 'gift' future generations with the IHM property for uses congruent with IHM values?" One option is to place a portion of property into a land trust. Land trusts are nonprofit organizations directly involved in helping to protect and conserve property in cities, rural and suburban areas. They can purchase land, acquire land through donations, accept conservation easements on land and monitor the terms of easements, and work in partnership with private and governmental conservation agencies. What is a conservation easement? "A conservation easement is a legal and binding agreement [document] between the land owner and a Conservancy Organization to restrict the uses of the property and provide for monitoring and defense of those restrictions in perpetuity." (Source: A property owner donates a conservation easement to a land trust, giving up or restricting some of the rights associated with the land (such as development rights). The conservation easement (agreement document) can protect land from inappropriate development while keeping private ownership of the property. Future owners are also bound by the terms of the easement. The land trust is responsible for enforcing the restrictions that are listed in the easement. Therefore, a land trust monitors the property usually at least once a year and depending on the easement terms, may also provide for long-term stewardship. To Sustainable Community |
As we move forward in Phase II of the campus development, we want to ensure that IHM values regarding the 