Note: These documents are intended as idea generators and as a basis for informed conversations with professionals (lawyers, foresters, and similar) and are not meant for do-it-yourselfers.

Legacy Planning

Conservation Easements and Retained Rights

• Actual "Working Forest" Easements:
  
  • Broome County, held by Chenango Land Trust (154KB Microsoft Word) or (280KB PDF)
  • Allegany County, held by Genesee Valley Conservancy (85KB Microsoft Word) or (56KB PDF)
• Actual property transfer and retained rights agreement:
  
  • Rensselaer County (14KB Microsoft Word) or (88KB PDF)
• Sample Conservation Easements:
  
  • State of Vermont (5.2MB PDF)
  • Delaware Highlands Conservancy (57KB Microsoft Word or (141KB PDF)
• Land Trust:
  
  • Deed of rights to the Land Trust (15KB PDF) or (16KB Microsoft Word)

Sources of Legacy Planning Information

• Cornell Cooperative Extension sponsored workshops. Contact your County Extension office.
• Land Trust Alliance lists trusts and conservancies by county in New York.
• USDA's Estate planning for forest landowners: what will become of your timberland?
• Your Land, Your Legacy - Deciding the Future of Your Land, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• New England Forestry Foundation, 32 Foster Street, PO Box 1346, Littleton, MA 01460. Information on succession planning and including copies of redacted existing conservation easements.
• Protecting Your Legacy, A New York landowner’s guide to conservation-based estate planning, 2019.
• Ties to the Land – Your Family Heritage. Planning for an Orderly Transition. Intergenerational Family Forest Project. Oregon State University – Austin Family Program.
• Rensselaer Land Trust. Guide to Land Preservation Options. renstrust@renstrust.org