As a land trust, Feather River Land Trust is committed to conserving, caring for, and connecting people to the lands and waters of the Feather River Watershed. We conserve land in two ways: purchasing land outright, like at our public preserves, or by working with private landowners to establish conservation easements.
What is a conservation easement?
The definition of a conservation easement is “a voluntary, legal agreement that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values" (National Conservation Easement Database).
Conservation easements are based on the idea that when people own land, they own rights that go with the property. Landowners agree to relinquish some of those rights with a conservation easement. Generally, the rights relinquished in a conservation easement are the rights to subdivide and develop the property, as well as to conduct large-scale mining. Agricultural activities are usually allowed under conservation easements, and many properties protected by FRLT are family ranches.
Goodrich Creek runs through 101 Ranch—conserved in 2024 and owned by Sierra Pacific Industries, image by TPL/Mark Lathrop.
Establishing conservation easements can often take years of work before the properties are officially protected. Behind the scenes, our Land Protection team works to build trust with landowners, complete due diligence work, and secure funding. Over 25 years, FRLT has partnered with a variety of different landowners to conserve important landscapes.
Family Properties:
like the Church Ranch in Sattley, with a historic barn that dates back to the 1880s.
Private Companies:
like Lake Almanor, owned and managed by Pacific Gas and Electric, beloved for recreation and wildlife habitat.
Native Homelands:
like Tásmam Koyóm, have been returned to Maidu ownership with Maidu Summit Consortium.
Then what?
Once a conservation easement has been established, the organization holding the easement is responsible for monitoring the property—FRLT monitors its conservation easements on an annual basis, documenting any changes to the property over time.
FRLT’s Conservation Easement Program Manager, Roslyn Peters, visits each property, taking photos and rotating which photo points are visited each year to get a holistic view of the property’s condition over time.
What is a conservation easement?
The definition of a conservation easement is “a voluntary, legal agreement that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values" (National Conservation Easement Database).
Conservation easements are based on the idea that when people own land, they own rights that go with the property. Landowners agree to relinquish some of those rights with a conservation easement. Generally, the rights relinquished in a conservation easement are the rights to subdivide and develop the property, as well as to conduct large-scale mining. Agricultural activities are usually allowed under conservation easements, and many properties protected by FRLT are family ranches.
Goodrich Creek runs through 101 Ranch—conserved in 2024 and owned by Sierra Pacific Industries, image by TPL/Mark Lathrop.
Establishing conservation easements can often take years of work before the properties are officially protected. Behind the scenes, our Land Protection team works to build trust with landowners, complete due diligence work, and secure funding. Over 25 years, FRLT has partnered with a variety of different landowners to conserve important landscapes.
Family Properties:
like the Church Ranch in Sattley, with a historic barn that dates back to the 1880s.
Private Companies:
like Lake Almanor, owned and managed by Pacific Gas and Electric, beloved for recreation and wildlife habitat.
Native Homelands:
like Tásmam Koyóm, have been returned to Maidu ownership with Maidu Summit Consortium.
Then what?
Once a conservation easement has been established, the organization holding the easement is responsible for monitoring the property—FRLT monitors its conservation easements on an annual basis, documenting any changes to the property over time.
FRLT’s Conservation Easement Program Manager, Roslyn Peters, visits each property, taking photos and rotating which photo points are visited each year to get a holistic view of the property’s condition over time.
