It’s a truth universally acknowledged that land trust stewardship takes a special kind of person — one with a wide range of knowledge and skills, from drafting land management plans to understanding easement terms to working with landowners and more. In this course, we cover the essentials new staff or volunteers need to know to steward conservation easements and fee lands in accordance with the Land Trust Standards and Practices. With usable information and time in the field to practice, this course is a must for new staff, those wanting a refresher and board members tasked with overseeing the stewardship program. 

We start with the importance of thorough conservation easement stewardship, including the contents of baseline documentation reports and their importance to perpetual conservation, how to prepare for and complete annual in-person or remote monitoring. We cover tips for keeping landowner relationships strong, managing approvals and permitted rights, amendments and steps to take if there is a suspected violation.  

We also address what needs to be in a land management plan that meets the land trust’s mission and goals and the Standards, how to determine the types of permitted activities on the land trust’s properties, common stewardship administrative activities, including the range of insurance needed, what to look for during annual monitoring and how to respond to challenges. 

Finally, we highlight the importance of tracking and calculating annual and long-term stewardship expenses for both easements and fee land and provide tips for recordkeeping.