Protect land with a conservation easement

Conservation easements protect natural areas

Conservation easements are one of the most effective tools for permanently protecting natural areas on private property.

A conservation easement is a set of development restrictions that a landowner voluntarily places on their property to permanently protect its natural resources. By selling or donating development rights, the landowner is able to protect thing they value about their land, whether that be the open space, views, rural character, wildlife habitat, mature forest, and more.

Learn more about conservation easements as a land protection tool.

Funding available for land protection and restoration projects

Hennepin County, in partnership with the Minnesota Land Trust, received a $1.5 million grant from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Fund to acquire conservation easements on the best remaining natural areas in Hennepin County. Funding is also available for habitat restoration projects on protected properties.

Hennepin County will evaluate potential land protection and restoration projects continuously as funds remain. Only properties that are permanently protected are eligible to receive financial assistance for land restoration.

Learn about natural resources on your property

The Natural Resources Interactive Map will help you explore natural resources on your property.

In the map, you can select data layers to see existing conservation easements and some land designations including ecologically significant areas and natural resources corridors.

Generally, properties that are the best candidates for protection and restoration are those near other protected property, within or adjacent to one of the land designations, and/or larger properties.

But only you know your property. Let us know what’s special about your property and your goals for its future, and we will connect you to the right resources for protection and restoration.

Contact us to learn more

Application deadline

Application deadlines for 2020 are July 17, and November 12.

Complete the interest form to get started

Complete the online land protection interest form or call Kristine Maurer at 612-348-6570 to get started.

Next steps

Next steps after completing the form will include:

Follow up by program staff within one week.
A field visit to meet you, talk about your goals and motivations for your property, and walk the land.
Advice about suitability for Hennepin County’s land protection program and potential restoration opportunities (if applicable).
Advice and assistance related to any specific natural resource or land related questions you have.

If your property seems like a good fit for our program, we will recommend that you:

Seek advice from your legal and tax professionals to see if land protection seems like a good possibility for your property.
Request that you submit an application to be formally considered for protection and/or restoration through our program.

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program for agricultural properties

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is another option for land protection. The program is available to agricultural landowners in Hennepin County to permanently remove certain environmentally sensitive lands from production in order to protect surface water and groundwater.

The program focuses on increasing the width of buffer strips along waterways beyond required buffers, restoring wetlands, increasing floodplain storage, and creating wildlife habitat.

For eligible land, payment rates in Hennepin County are more than $13,000 per acre.

Funding for this program is provided through a partnership between the USDA and the State of Minnesota. Hennepin County conservation staff assist landowners with the application process.

To request assistance, contact Matt Stasica at matt.stasica@hennepin.us or 612-348-4659.

Example projects and additional resources

Example projects

The following conservations easements have successfully protected ecologically significant natural areas and improved connections among natural areas.

Easement fulfills landowners’ vision of permanent habitat protection

When the Clark's bought a 38-acre parcel of pastureland 25 years ago in western Hennepin County, their goal was to create a home for themselves while restoring the diverse and natural lands that had once thrived on the property. With a conservation easement, their decades of hard work will be protected forever.

The Clark property is part of a larger joint effort between Hennepin County and the Minnesota Land Trust to protect 500 acres of habitat within Hennepin County and restore 250 acres to a more natural state. Natural lands like the Clark property play an important role in filtering surface and groundwater, maintaining wildlife corridors, and creating opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Read the Minnesota Land Trust's story about the Clark easement.

Important habitat protected forever

The Slavec property in Independence lies on the edge of the Twin Cities metro, in an area rich with lakes and wetlands. The 13-acre easement was one of the last remaining unprotected parcels in a habitat corridor connecting Lake Rebecca Regional Park to Lake Sarah.

The easement contains old-growth maple-basswood forest, a tamarack bog, wetlands, and grasslands and provides important habitat to Trumpeter swans and other unique wildlife.

Read the Minnesota Land Trust's story about the Slavec easement.

After the easement was established, a reforestation project planted 1,200 trees on 3.5 acres of former farm field. The reforestation will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering an estimated 3,600 tons of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years and improve water quality by infiltrating nearly 2.5 million gallons of rainfall annually.

Watch a time lapse of the reforestation.

Additional easement factsheets

Hennepin County conservation easement program guidelines

The Hennepin County Conservation Easement Program (PDF) establishes procedures for the evaluation of potential preservation opportunities for natural areas.

Natural resources interactive map