Stewardship - Landowner Resources

Whether the original owner of protected land or a successor landowner, NCLWF appreciates your continued commitment to the conservation of North Carolina’s natural and cultural resources. While many landowners will have an established relationship with one of our conservation partners, NCLWF Stewardship staff is always happy to serve as an additional resource.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to frequently asked questions below. 

What is a conservation agreement?

A conservation agreement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government entity that restricts certain land uses to ensure the protection of the identified conservation values. NCLWF has used a number of different conservation agreements throughout its history including State-held conservation easements, third-party conservation easements, declarations of covenants and restrictions, and Dedications under the Nature Preserves Act. Though different in name, all of these instruments have the same purpose, to protect conservation values in perpetuity.

For questions regarding Dedicated Nature Preserves, please contact Scott Pohlman with the Natural Heritage Program at scott.pohlman@dncr.nc.gov.

What is a BDR?

A Baseline Documentation Report (BDR) is a report created before closing to establish the existing conditions prior to the recordation of a conservation agreement. A BDR should include information on the conservation values of the property, any existing human modifications, and boundary conditions. This serves as a basis for comparison with future conditions. Unfortunately, BDRs were not created for many of our older conservation easements.

What is an annual monitoring visit?

To ensure the perpetual protection of our conservation easements, an annual monitoring visit must be conducted by NCLWF staff or staff from one of our contracted partner organizations. This monitoring visit typically involves staff from NCLWF or a partner organization walking the conservation easement area to document any changes that have occurred since the last visit. In many cases, emphasis is on boundary lines, but portions of the easement interior may be visited as well. Among the most important aspects of this visit is the establishment and maintenance of positive working relationships with landowners, whether public or private. Though it is not a requirement, landowners are always invited to join our staff for a monitoring visit. Once annual monitoring is complete, a detailed report will be made available to the landowner and kept on file with NCLWF.

What is a reserved right?

Conservation agreements primarily exist to restrict land uses on a given property. However, the landowner still owns the underlying property and may request to retain the rights to conduct certain activities. These “Reserved Rights” are agreed upon at the time the easement is recorded and are often found in Article II of our conservation easements. Many reserved rights can be exercised without any additional oversight, but NCLWF recommends reviewing the specific easement language and reaching out to staff to avoid any unintentional easement violations.

How do I request approval to exercise a reserved right?

Exercising certain reserved rights requires prior written approval by NCLWF Stewardship staff. While the specific easement language dictates which rights require approval, this often applies to construction of natural surface trails, construction of any allowed improvements, stream/wetland restoration, and conversion of one habitat type to a native habitat type. All reserved right approval requests should be submitted to NCLWF’s Stewardship Program Manager via email. NCLWF recommends emailing Justin Mercer at justin.mercer@dncr.nc.gov and copying our team’s shared account at Stewardship_nclwf@dncr.nc.gov.

• Natural Surface Trails – Construction of natural surface trails should follow established sustainability guidelines. NCLWF’s requirements are outlined in our Guidelines & Practices Manual STW-009 Construction of Trails. Submission requirements can be found here.
• Improvements Requiring Construction – Requests must include a description of the intended improvements complete with any relevant construction drawings. Plans must adhere to all restrictions outlined in the conservation agreement and make every reasonable effort to minimize impacts to conservation values. Maps and GIS shapefiles are always appreciated.
• Stream/Wetland Restoration – Regardless of whether a restoration project was funded by NCLWF’s Restoration Program, efforts impacting existing NCLWF conservation easements must seek separate prior written approval from the Stewardship Program. Plans must be complete enough to evaluate all impacts to the protected property and include relevant construction/design drawings. Documentation must include access points, limits of disturbance, intended timeline, and all planting plans.
• Native Community Maintenance & Restoration – Activities such as prescribed fire and invasive species removal often do not require written approval. However, it is considered best practice to notify NCLWF prior to taking action any mistaken identification of an easement violation (or unintended actual violation). Where restoration of one community to a native community is necessary, NCWLF Stewardship must review and approve plans. Restoration is an active process and should include clear objectives and plans for short-term management activities and eventual transition to long-term maintenance.

What are restrictions and/or prohibitions?

Where “Reserved Rights” affirm actions that a landowner can take regarding their property, restrictions outline the specific activities that are no longer permitted within the easement area. These rights have been extinguished and neither the landowner, the State, nor any third party may conduct these activities on the protected property.

What is the Clean Water Management Trust Fund?

Many of our older easements refer to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF). This was the original name of our organization, founded in 1996. In 2019, the state legislature passed a law that changed our name to better reflect a mission that had expanded beyond just water quality. Though we are now known as the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund name lives on through easements recorded prior to 2020.

Who pays for monitoring?

When NCLWF closes on a conservation easement, we contribute funds to the North Carolina Conservation Easement Endowment Fund. The interest generated from the endowment is intended to fund annual monitoring efforts in perpetuity.

I haven’t heard from NCLWF in years, why are you contacting me now?

Between 2018 and 2021, NCLWF identified a number of conservation easements that were not being monitored regularly and had not budgeted for stewardship expenses. In 2022 and 2023, the NCLWF Board of Trustees committed additional funds to our endowment, allowing us to catch up on monitoring needs. Most easements have been monitored at least once in recent years with the intent of establishing more regular efforts. Some easements will be monitored annually, while others will be monitored on a rotation of up to three years.

What is a post-closing “handoff” meeting?

This is relatively new effort for NCLWF staff to engage with landowners early in the life of a conservation easement. This will largely be an opportunity for our staff to become familiar with the property, reintroduce ourselves as the easement holder and a resource, and answer any questions that the landowner may have regarding the easement, NCLWF, or our contracted easement monitor.

Who can I contact with questions about my conservation easement?

If you have a copy of your most recent monitoring report, please contact the staff member listed there. Otherwise, general inquiries about existing NCLWF conservation easements can be directed to any member of our Stewardship Team. If we can’t help you directly, we will make sure to put you in touch with someone that can!

What is an Assignment of Conservation Easement?

NCLWF’s enabling legislation does not permit us to provide grant funds directly to private landowners. In many cases, local land trusts or other conservation organizations will purchase a conservation easement using grant funds on behalf of NCLWF and subsequently assign all responsibility for that easement to the State of North Carolina as part of the grant agreement. Though the name of our conservation partner may appear on the original conservation easement deed, these easements are actually held by the State of North Carolina (through NCLWF).

I plan to transfer ownership or lease my conservation land. What does the easement require?

NCLWF’s conservation easements include a section that requires prior written notice to be provided to the State before any recording of any sale, lease, or other transfer of rights for the protected property. In addition, the conservation easement must be specifically referenced in a separate paragraph of any subsequent deed or lease. While the failure to do so does not impact the enforceability of NCLWF’s conservation easement, it is an important step in ensuring that new landowners are aware of the restrictions and helps to prevent easement documents from being missed in future title searches.

NCLWF prefers that new deeds specifically reference the North Carolina Land and Water Fund by name as well as the deed book and page for the original conservation easement, any amendments, and, when applicable, the assignment to the State of North Carolina. Though not required by the easement, our staff is always happy to review deeds prior to recording to ensure compliance with the terms of the conservation easement. NCLWF recommends contacting Justin Mercer at justin.mercer@dncr.nc.gov and copying our team’s shared account at Stewardship_nclwf@dncr.nc.gov.