Bremen Long Island Parcel Under Easement

This October, MVLT received a forever-wild easement on an 18-acre parcel on Bremen Long Island. The property contains several features that contribute to its local conservation value, including undeveloped shore frontage, important wading bird and waterfowl habitat, adjacency to other conserved lands, and scenic views from the waters of Muscongus Bay. The parcel was originally donated to The Nature Conservancy in 1996 as a trade land, and the history behind this project provides an interesting illustration of a different charitable donation tool and a unique way to conserve a property.

After receiving the Bremen Long Island parcel, TNC approached the Medomak Valley Land Trust to discuss the property's local conservation significance. While the property may not have had the scale of some of TNC's other projects around the globe, its local conservation significance and habitat value were of interest to the Medomak Valley Land Trust.

With these values in mind, representatives from TNC and MVLT explored different conservation scenarios that would allow TNC to receive some proceeds from a sale, and thus honor the donor's intent, while also protecting the local conservation values that were important to MVLT and watershed residents. In the end, TNC donated a forever-wild conservation easement to MVLT and sold the encumbered property to a private party. The Nature Conservancy will also be contributing a stewardship endowment to MVLT for easement monitoring and enforcement into the future. If you have any questions about this project or trade lands in general, please feel free to contact the MVLT office.

What is a Trade Land?

A trade land is a parcel of land or other real estate without significant conservation purpose that is donated with the understanding that the property will be sold and the proceeds invested in the organization's conservation activities. The Nature Conservancy's trade lands program was created in 1981.

TNC publicizes the program nationwide and views trade land donations as critically important to its mission. Land trusts around the country accept trade land gifts and welcome them as a way to generate revenue for their conservation work.

Such donations are valuable to the donor because they are often recognized by the IRS as a charitable gift and the landowner benefits from the knowledge that their gift will leverage the protection of land that otherwise might not have been protected.