Access Issues for Land Trusts
Imagine the scenario: a year after your land trust acquires a new preserve or a conservation easement, your volunteers or staff head out for annual monitoring of the property only to find that the woods road you always used to reach the property has been barricaded by large granite boulders. Or, worse, during monitoring the staff finds that a narrow woods road you have used as a trail through the property has been widened to 50' and trucks are preparing to lay down gravel. How can this happen? [read more]
Motorized Use of Trails by Individuals with Mobility Disabilities
Back in March of this year, MLTN reported on a Department of Justice (DOJ) rule related to the Americans with Disabilities Act and motorized use of trails that was going into effect at that time. The rule requires an entity... [read more]
Maine Supreme Court Decision on Intertidal Lands Public Rights
An important case on intertidal lands public rights recently came down that partially overturns the precedent of the Moody Beach cases from the 80's. Those cases held that the only rights of the public in the intertidal area (owned by... [read more]
Update: Maine's Commercial Forestry Excise Tax
In 2010 some Maine land trusts began receiving bills from the Maine Revenue Service for a Commercial Forestry Excise Tax for the first time. This tax was established in 1985 to fund some of the forest fighting capability of the... [read more]
Congress Extends Enhanced Easement Tax Incentive
In late December, and with support from Maine's entire Congressional Delegation, President Obama signed a bill that renews a 2006 incentive enabling landowners to receive a significant tax benefit for donating conservation easements on their land. The incentive, which lapsed... [read more]
Proposed Conservation Defense Program Clears the First Hurdle
The first goal toward feasibility of the conservation defense insurance program being explored by the Land Trust Alliance has been met, with 13,169 properties committed by 335 land trusts from 46 states. (12,000 were needed to proceed.) But even with... [read more]
Most Recent Expectations for Improvement
Decisions to award land trust accreditation may be accompanied by expectations for improvement when the Accreditation Commission determines that the land trust must take action over time to improve compliance for certain practices. If an accredited land trust submits an... [read more]
Local Land Trust Featured in Downeast Magazine
Read the article.... [read more]
Accreditation Program Changes Announced
The accreditation process is changing to be more efficient. [read more]
Maine Attorney General Helps Enforce an Easement
After years of costly litigation, the Windham Land Trust has won its case to protect the Freeman Farm in Gray from commercial uses prohibited in the 2003 conservation easement it holds. In March 2009, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the land trust's objection to having the farm's conserved lands converted to a campground and festival grounds for commercial music venues. [read more]
