The Rincon Institute is a land trust, meaning we can hold conservation easements for landowners who want to protect their land from development or overuse in perpetuity.  Our private land protection efforts as a land trust help protect the natural resources within and around Saguaro National Park by promoting voluntary conservation of open space on private lands near the Park and along important riparian areas and wildlife corridors. We accomplish this by engaging landowners and challenging them to learn about their conservation options. There are diverse opportunitites and conservation tools that landowners can utilize to create specific protection plans that protect the fragile resources of this beautiful area.

Photos by Gene Wendt

Photos by Gene Wendt

In addition to our conservation easements, The Rincon Institute manages and protects 1,000 acres of open space on the Rocking K Ranch under a management agreement created in the 1990s.

To learn more about your options for private land conservation, please read on and then contact the Rincon Institute to discuss what might be the best options for your land!

Please contact Lynsey Gould, Director of Conservation & Outreach, for more inforamtion at 520-647-7388 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

You might also want to visit the Land Trust Alliance website for more information.

Conservation Easements
The following was borrowed with permission from the publication Protecting Your Land with a Conservation Easement (© 1994 Land Trust Alliance - Washington, DC)

Conservation easements have helped thousands of families protect millions of acres of open space. With a conservation easement, you permanently protect your land without giving up ownership. You can continue to live on it and use it, and can sell it or pass it on to heirs. What's more, you can reduce future estate taxes - taxes that otherwise could rob your children of their legacy, and result in the destruction of one more beautiful piece of land.

How Does A Conservation Easement Work?
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust (a private, nonprofit conservation organization) or government agency that permanently limits a property's uses in order to protect its conservation values. When you own land, you also "own" many rights associated with it, such as the rights to harvest timber, build structures, and so on. When you donate or sell a conservation easement to a land trust, you permanently give up some of those rights. For example, you might give up the right to build additional residences, while retaining the right to grow crops. Future owners also will be bound by the easement's terms. The conservation easement (called a "conservation restriction" in some states) is written up in a legal agreement that is tailored to protect the land's conservation values and meet the financial and personal needs of the landowner. An easement on property containing rare wildlife habitat might prohibit development of any kind, for example, while one on a farm might allow continued farming and the building of additional agricultural structures. In some cases, a conservation easement may apply to just a portion of the property, leaving the option of development open for the remaining part. It may allow limited building within the area under the easement. The land trust takes on the responsibility and legal right to enforce the easement. If a future owner or someone else violates the easement - perhaps by erecting a building the easement doesn't allow - the land trust will work to have the violation corrected. (The land trust usually asks for a donation from the easement donor to help offset the cost of future stewardship expenses.)

Federal Income Tax And Estate Tax Deductions

Qualifying for a federal income tax deduction:
If you donate a conservation easement that meets federal tax code requirements, the value of the easement can be treated as a charitable gift and deducted from income tax (to the extent your particular tax situation allows). For income tax purposes, the value of the easement is the difference between the land's value with the easement and its value without the easement. If a property is worth $500,000 unrestricted, for example, and an easement that precludes further development is placed on it that drops its value to $200,000, the value of the donation is $300,000. Easement values vary greatly; in general, the highest easement values result from very restrictive conservation easements on tracts of developable open space under intense development pressure. In order to qualify as a charitable donation, an easement must meet federal tax code requirements - in essence, must provide public benefit by permanently protecting important conservation resources. However, an easement does not have to cover all of the property, preclude all use or development, or allow public access to qualify. Because a conservation easement lowers the property's fair market value, it can also result in lower property taxes.

A Conservation Easement can significantly reduce estate taxes:
If you own land with substantial value, you may not be able to pass it on intact to your heirs. When you die, your children may find that the federal estate tax - which is based on the land's current fair market value and is levied at rates as high as 55% - is in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Selling all or part of the land for development may be the only way to pay the estate tax. But if you place an easement on the land restricting future development, its fair market value will, in most cases, be reduced. When you die, this reduced value will result in lower estate taxes.

Land Donation

Donating land for conservation purposes is truly one of the finest legacies a person can leave to future generations. It may be the best conservation strategy for you if you do not wish to pass the land on to heirs; own property you no longer use; own highly appreciated property; have substantial real estate holdings and wish to reduce estate tax burdens; or would like to be relieved of the responsibility of managing and caring for land.

Donating land releases you from the responsibility of managing the land and can provide substantial income tax deductions and estate tax benefits (while avoiding any capital gains taxes that would have resulted from selling the property). Most important, if the land is donated because of its conservation value, it will be protected. (Although our focus here is on conservation land, commercial and residential properties can also be donated to a land trust, with the understanding that the organization will sell the land to support its conservation work).

Donating a remainder interest in land:
An outright donation is not the only way to give land. You can continue to live on the land by donating a remainder interest and retaining a reserved life estate. In this arrangement, you donate the property during your lifetime, but continue to live on and use the property. When you die (or sooner if you choose), the land trust gains full title and control over the property.

By donating a remainder interest, you can continue to enjoy your land and may be eligible for an income tax deduction when the gift is made. The deduction is based on the fair market value of the donated property less the expected value of the reserved life estate.

Donating land by will:
If you want to own and control your land during your lifetime, but assure its protection after your death, you can donate it by will. You should make sure the chosen recipient is willing and able to receive the gift.

Land donations that establish a life income:
If you have land you would like to protect by donating it to a land trust, but need to receive income during your lifetime, you might use a charitable gift annuity. In a charitable gift annuity, you agree to transfer certain property to a charity, and the charity agrees to make regular annuity payments to one or two beneficiaries you specify for life. Your gift of land usually qualifies for a charitable income tax deduction at the time of the gift, based on the value of the land less the expected value of the annuity payments.

Another option for donating property and receiving regular income is a charitable remainder unitrust. You place the land in a trust, first putting a conservation easement on it if it is to be protected. Then the trustee sells the land and invests the net proceeds from the sale. One or more beneficiaries you specify receive payments each year for a fixed term or for life, then the trustee turns the remaining funds in the trust over to the land trust.

The gift qualifies for a charitable income tax deduction when the land is put in the trust, based on the value of the land less the expected value of the payments.

Charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder unitrusts are most useful for highly appreciated land, the sale of which would incur high capital gains tax.

Bargain Sale of Land

If you need to realize some immediate income from selling your land, yet would like the property to go to a land trust, a bargain sale might be the answer. In a bargain sale, you sell the land to a land trust for less than its fair market value. This not only makes it more affordable for the land trust, but offers several benefits to you: it provides cash, avoids some capital gains tax, and entitles you to a charitable income tax deduction based on the difference between the land's fair market value and its sale price.

How Are Conservation Easements Enforced?

At the time a conservation easement is created, plant and wildlife inventories are added to photographic information to provide a baseline for future monitoring. Annual visits are arranged by the land trust in order to determine that the terms and conditions of the conservation easement are being honored. If a violation is identified, the landowner is promptly notified, in accord with procedures outlined in the conservation easement, and steps must be taken to repair any damage. The easement also defines the process to be followed to resolve disputes regarding an alleged violation of the easement. If necessary, the land trust will take legal action to fulfill its conservation easement obligations. A stewardship fund is created in conjunction with the acceptance of each conservation easement. It is used exclusively for that property to cover future expenses of monitoring, enforcing compliance with easement restrictions, and underwriting legal defense of the easement protections. The amount required for a stewardship fund is proportional to the responsibility being assigned to the land trust under the terms of the conservation easement.



Contact the Rincon Institute to discuss what might be the best options for your land!
Please contact Lynsey Gould, Director of Conservation & Outreach, for more inforamtion at 520-647-7388 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

You might also want to visit the Land Trust Alliance website for more information.