Reviews of Richard Brewer's Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America
The Quarterly Review of Biology 80 (2) June 2005: 258
In the United States, preserving and properly managing natural lands has long been one role of federal and state governments. As a result of urban sprawl, agriculture, and other pressures, the threats to land conservation have, for many decades, increased dramatically. When governments fail to live up to public expectation (whether that "failure" is an intentional change in priorities or a lack of available human and fiscal resources), people will often rise to the occasion, as has been the case with land preservation in many parts of the United States. Brewer, a noted academic ecologist, provides an engaging and thoughtful history of the land trust movement in the United States. This history is both a very personal recounting of his foray into activism and a more academic history of the movement. As Brewer defines them, a land trust is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to acquire and protect land. This rather simplistic definition obscures the fact that establishing land trusts can be very complicated, as it involves conflicting priorities, personalities, legal idiosyncrasies, and politics. Thus, a history alone, be it personal or academic, is of some value in describing the formation and evolution of the land trust movement. In this sense, Brewer provides a valuable document for anyone involved in this movement. Furthermore, to the extent that misery loves company, many citizens who have been, or are, considering becoming, involved in a land trust will find comfort here knowing that others have trod the same ground. What is really valuable about this fine book are the suggestions, recommendations, and "rules" that Brewer provides for a successful land trust. Although these comments are based on his personal experience, they are layered with experiences of others in similar organizations and, more importantly, with his extensive research experence in the ecology of natural areas. It is one thing to advocate for land preservation and protection; it is another to do so with strong research credentials. Brewer has nicely distilled his several decades of experience (primarily in Michigan), has delved into the stories of land trusts elsewhere (including the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land), and has emerged with a cogent and compelling book that is both a history of the past and a hopeful prescription for the future.-Christopher P Dunn, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois
Copyright 2005 University of Chicago Press.
Website of Library Journal 3/15/2005
Reviews-The Reader's Shelf
Saving the Earth: Ecological Reads, Edited by Nancy Pearl
A uniquely American innovation, land trusts are designed to preserve natural lands through their acquisition and maintenance in perpetuity by private, nonprofit organizations. Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America by biology professor Richard Brewer, offers a comprehensive overview of their historical development (they date from the mid-1800s), their legal basis, and their role in the environmental movement. Brewer also profiles unique ecological preserves, large land trusts (The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, American Farmland Trust, and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy) and successful, but lesser-known, local land trusts. He demonstrates how land trusts are a distinct form of private ownership, a conservation strategy that can appeal to both ends of the political spectrum. Brewer's inspiring book leaves readers with an optimistic sense that it's not too late to preserve undeveloped land.-Tami Echavarria Robinson, Instructional Coordinator and Reference Librarian, Whitworth College, Spokane
Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Natural Areas Journal 25 (1) 2005:20
Land trusts and conservancies are the fastest growing and arguably one of the most important parts of the contemporary land conservation movement in the United States. They come in a diversity of forms and structures but share a number of traits: they are all private, apolitical, non-profit organizations with the primary or sole mission of protecting lands. This mission is accomplished through voluntary transactions with willing landowners.
Organizations dedicated to protecting lands have been in existence in the U.S. since the. late 1800s. However, this book makes the strong case that the real beginning of the land trust movement as we know it today occurred in 1981-a beginning motivated by the realization that the federal government had just abdicated its leadership in land protection and conservation. Growth is indicated by the fact that the number of land trusts increased from about 370 in 1981 to 1263 in 2000 with trusts now operating in every state. Local land trusts currently protect 2.6 million ha of land, an increase of 80% since 1980. This concentration on recent events is not meant to imply that the history of land protection organizations throughout the 20th century is excluded in Brewer's book. The first chapter, in fact. provides an excellent overview of this history including discussions on The Save the Redwoods League, Appalachian Mountain Club, the Sierra Club, The Trustees of Reservations, and The Nature Conservancy. Of note here also are the insights into the role that Charles Elliot played in the early history of land protection and the fact that he may well be the father of the land trust concept.
Following from this history, the book clearly shows why land trusts as currently structured are uniquely suited to the task of land protection. Along this vein, in the chapter titled "Who Will Save the Land," the book presents several insightful, interesting, and disappointing-to-read case examples of organizations such as universities, churches, and government agencies that were given specific parcels of land to be protected and then subsequently failed to carry out this obligation. A better title for this chapter might be 'Who can you trust to save the land and why.'
Most useful to land trust boards and their members are the chapters in the middle of the book which essentially provide a well articulated primer of how to select lands for protection, the mechanisms available to do that, the importance of stewardship, and the reality that the terms of conservation easements may at some point in time need to be defended. Most informative to me, as a local land trust board member. was the discussion of conservation easements as a way to protect land. Land trusts have enthusiastically adopted conservation easements in the last 20 years, and today land trusts protect twice as much land by easement as by outright ownership. Long-term concerns with conservation easements include maintaining continued public support for the "significant public benefit" attributable to an easement which typically does not allow public access. The public benefit is the basis for the federal tax benefits that land owners gain by granting a conservation easement. This book points out that the next few decades will bring rising land prices, sales of many easement properties, and many more court tests of conservation easements. The author writes that (p.171), "It wouldn't be surprising if half of the 11,700 properties on which local land trust hold easements were to be sold in the next ten years. Some of the new owners will be environmentalists, just as interested in protecting the property's conservation values as the original owners. Of the others, some will be ignorant of easements, some disdainful, and some hostile. Some will buy easement-protected land in the full expectation of breaking the easement so that they can do what they want with the land." All of these factors lead the author to conclude that the future of conservation easements is unclear and that a strategy of fee simple ownership of lands may be a better course of action.
This book concludes with chapters on the origins and activities of several national land trusts or equivalents, including the Trust for Public Lands and The Nature Conservancy, as well as chapters on farmland protection, trails, and greenways. I enjoyed and learned much from the very insightful description of the origins and evolution of The Nature Conservancy and of the personal sacrifices its founders made. Of particular interest to members of the Natural Areas Association (NAA) is the important role that George Fell and his wife Barbara played in the creation of The Nature Conservancy. The Fells were also instrumental in the founding of the NAA, and Barbara and the memory of George were honored during the Awards Ceremony at the NAA conference in October this year.
In conclusion. I highly recommend this book. It should be considered a must read for all of those involved in the land trust movement and in the library of every land trust board member.-Gerry Wright, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow ID
Copyright 2005 Natural Areas Journal
Planning & Zoning News December 2004: 21-22
Affectionate Sensibility
Genetic infrastructure, screened by 3.7 billion years of evolution, has weathered the five extinction spasms memorialized in the fossil record. Another bottleneck, however, awaits this legacy. It must still run the gauntlet of civilization; a civilization bent on consumption. The toughest test of all lies ahead. Tethered, as we are, to nature's biodiverse heritage, the biologist in us derives solace in a conservancy.
While in his impressionable years as a student at the University of Illinois, Richard Brewer's professor was on the board of directors of The Nature Conservancy. Here, Brewer developed the insight and commitment to eventually become a founding member of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. Brewer, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University, now takes an in-depth look at land trusts across the nation (with a subtle bias for our home turf in Michigan).
A doctorate in biology, like the penalty of an "ecological education" in Aldo Leopold's words, condemns one to live "alone in a world of wounds." Brewer's wounded world, however, bears the tenuous promise of a budding conservation ethic.
This promise finds expression in the popularity of conservancies over the past two decades. Brewer traces the history of the conservation movement from the first land trust in 1891 through 2003, when this book tumbled off the press. Between 1986 and 1995, land trust formation was all the rage. A new conservancy was born every week in the United States.
This book is not just an expose'
of conservancies as the cultural phenomenon of our day. Brewer adorns the culture of conservation with the human drama and individual passion on its frontiers.
The protagonists on Brewer's stage play out their ardent love of the land by crafting enduring monuments. The players are not just good neighbors, good friends, and good people. They also practice the art of becoming good ancestors. Their conservancies are crucibles of evolution providing the chalice for a lasting conservation ethic.
In the spirit of a true conservationist, Brewer shamelessly invokes the lingo of the trade. He could have professed that conservancies are designing monuments for the future, relics to cherish, or memories to preserve. But that is just not the everyday vernacular of this selfless industry. As Brewer observes, conservancies are "doing deals." While refining the art of stewardship, they casually invoke the colloquialism of common, everyday hucksters "doing deals." No doubt, there is a suppressed smile lurking under the breath of every land trust. Cliches of the trade betray a light-hearted spirit in the conservation movement. While engaged in painstakingly serious business, the personalities of the conservation movement refuse to take themselves seriously.
This book adopts the measured discipline of its author, a biologist by training and trade. In assessing the effectiveness of the conservation movement, Brewer remains focused on conservation objectives. For every parcel, Brewer asks "Why?" He challenges us to ask: "Why save it?" "Why bother?" He wants to know the "conservation values" of the land. Are we saving the habitat for an endangered species? If so, then do we abandon stewardship if the species is someday rendered extinct? Are we saving a stunning view? Are we providing parkland relief for a frenetic urban setting, open space relief to marauding urban sprawl, or just a place for serenity amid congestion? The answer to these questions will determine the arrows to be drawn from the conservationist's quiver.
Conservancies protect land in two basic ways: By acquiring either titles to land or conservation easements. Ownership of the title is acquired by donation, purchase, or both (i.e., a reduced sale price). "Conservation easements" are an unnecessarily complex term for land protection agreements between a conservancy and the owner. The conservancy in a conservation easement becomes the owner's appointed steward to assure the conservation values of the land are perpetuated. Donors commonly contribute a monetary gift to the conservancy's endowment to assure the longevity of this stewardship commitment.
Donations to qualified land trusts give rise to favorable tax treatment. A charitable income tax deduction for the land's fair market value accompanies the gift of title to a conservancy. Thus, a million dollar parcel with a $25,000 tax basis offers a million dollar deduction. A charitable deduction for perpetual conservation easernents equals the reduction in the land's value. If, for example, a $1,000,000 land value is reduced to $300,000 by restrictions in a conservation easement, then a $700,000 tax deduction becomes available. Property taxes are also affected. They vanish on land owned by conservancies. The SEV on land subject to a conservation easement is based on the reduced ("eased") value. Similarly, estate taxes are measured by the "eased" value.
Brewer acknowledges the tax benefits provide an impetus for donations to land trusts. Statistically and intuitively, however, the motivating criteria for these gifts arises from a conservation ethic. Donors have developed an enduring relationship with the flora and fauna on these properties. This ethic often traces into an intergenerational bond with our forebears. Gifts are often inspired by a memorable hike in the woods with a grandparent. The conservancy becomes a conduit for this legacy to resonate through the ages.
The board, staff, and members of a conservancy thrive on discharging stewardship responsibilities. Conservancies, however, are not all alike. Brewer equates the diversity of land trusts with the diversity of their protected lands. Notwithstanding the variety of operations, Brewer finds conservancies are united by mission.
With limited exceptions, land trusts are non-adversarial organizations. By design, they shrink from controversy. Thus, they appeal to a broad spectrum, alienating few. Where else will the sprawl-advocating-property-rights-wielding-venture-capitalist find a congenial spot on the board of directors next to the anti-Vietnamwar-era-refugee-hippy? Right here. At your local land trust. Why? Because no matter where they stand on property rights to plunder the land, everyone agrees on this fundamental property right: the right to preserve the land.
Brewer defines the threat to our natural surroundings through the lens of a biologist. He maintains a disciplined focus on selecting land suitable for protection. Every parcel delivers stewardship costs and liability considerations. Brewer's insights enable a conservancy to craft the criteria by which parcels can be selected for protection.
This book fills a void. It is the first to comprehensively trace the history, the people, the spirit, and the present state of the art in land trusts. It is a helpful guide for community planners, land trust board members, employees, donors, and persons interested in the conservation ethic of our time.
With the sensitivity of a compassionate biologist. Brewer delivers an uncommon perception of the relationship between people and resources. Brewer's tribute to conservancies is not, however; filled with optimism. He perceives the weight of a growing population and land consumptive decisions of a consumer-based economy. The author's sensitivity leaves a bittersweet impression that land trusts are a step in the right direction, but not necessarily a complete salvation.
In parting, Brewer observes: "In the long run, we hope that land trusts, together with other people and other organizations, will make the world a better place, better than it is now. That worthy effort may fail, and the trends of overexploitation and degradation may continue or worsen. If so, we will have done our best. in a way that was constructive, hopeful, and fulI of love for the land and the people here today and yet to come. Even if land trusts fail to save the Earth, they will at least have made the Earth a better place than it would have been without them." Thank you, Professor Brewer.-John F. Rohe, Attorney, Petoskey MI
Copyright 2004 Planning & Zoning News
The Journal of Environmental Education 36(3) Fall 2004: 56
One of the most pressing environmental issues facing humanity concerns land use. Sprawl, be it urban or suburban, is quickly transforming the landscape from one of native vegetation to either mono-culture row crops or to asphalt jungles. The United States is somewhat unique in its quest to protect and preserve land by the actions of the government and the actions of individual citizens and land trusts. In this book, Brewer, a professor emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University, provides what the publisher describes as "the first comprehensive treatment of land trusts" (dust jacket). "Land trusts, also called conservancies, are private nonprofit organizations that protect land directly, by owning it. They are the most successful and exciting force in U.S. land conservation today and perhaps the most effective component of the whole environmentaI movement" (p. 1).
Many environmental educators are likely aware of large land trusts, such as The Nature Conservancy or the Trust for Public Land, but in reality, there are over 1,000 local trusts working to buy land to protect it. "Because the land trust model of saving land by private action has become dominant only in the past two decades, many people don't know what land trusts are, what they do, or their importance to conservarion now and in coming decades" (p. 1). Brewer chronicles the conception of the land trust idea and provides exacting details about many trusts, including successes and failures. He also provides insights into the persons who are responsible for the creation of land trusts, many of whom are likely known for something else. Victor Shelford, for example, is probably known by many environmental educators for his development of the biome concept for classifying Earth's terrestrial regions. But he was also directly responsible for the founding of The Nature Conservancy.
When considering the Action Skills component of environmental education (EE), the actions of land trusts fall into several of them. The act of investing the funds to purchase land is clearly financial action. The act of convincing others of the value of a parcel of land being considered for protection is clearly persuasive action. The act of learning about the specific ecological attributes of a parcel of land being considered for protection is clearly educational action. The act of clearing litter and other debris from a parcel of land being protected is clearly physical action. The actions of land trusts would likely make excellent case studies for environmental educators and students alike interested in exploring some of the success stories of environmental protection and the role that EE may play in them.
The book is appropriate for advanced secondary students and postsecondary students in environmental or natural resource policy courses.-Nicholas J. Smith-Sebasto, Associate Director, Montclair State University, New Jersey School of Conservation, Branchville, New Jersey
Copyright 2004 Journal of Environmental Education.
Journal of the American Planning Association 70 (4) Autumn 2004: 494-496
Land Preservation
[This review included a second book, Land Conservation Financing by Mike McQueen & Edward McMahon. I have abridged the review by omitting sections that dealt strictly with it.-RB.]
Land use planning in the United States has traditionally meant planning for development. Planning for parks, trails, wildlife habitat, the protection of water resources, and working farm and forest landscapes has generally been an afterthought. Since 1980, however, the preservation of these lands-by outright purchase or acquisition of conservation easements-has become a common practice and a potentially powerful land use planning tool.
Over the past 25 years, the number of private nonprofit land trusts in the U.S. has tripled to more than 1,300, and these organizations have preserved more than 6 million acres. State and local government land preservation activity has surged as well. In particular, from 1998 to 2002, voters nationwide approved $25 billion for land preservation. Moreover, land preservation has become recognized as an essential element of "smart growth" efforts, such as Maryland's Rural Legacy program.
A major reason why land preservation has become so popular is the poor performance of local land use planning to protect open areas in the face of population growth, rapid development, and the scourge of sprawl. Comprehensive plans are often ignored, and zoning to protect open space has declined or been nonexistent in most parts of the United States. So with ineffective land use regulation and an urgent need to manage growth, the only alternative is to preserve open land through acquisition or conservation easements. In those places with good comprehensive planning, effective zoning in the countryside, and urban growth boundaries, land preservation can help to minimize sprawl, solidify growth boundaries, and channel devdopment to appropriate locations. In other words, if planners want to achieve smart growth over the long run, they must learn to plan not just for development, but for land preservation as well.
Both Conservancy and Land Conservation Financing are timely books that will reward planners interested in environmental planning and growth management. Richard Brewer has produced a thoughtful, well-researched book on the origins of land trusts, how and where they operate, and what land preservation strategies they have pursued and need to pursue. Brewer has aimed to tell the land trust story to a broad audience, though the land trust community has been especially excited about the book. Brewer's book complements two of the leading sources in the field, attorney Stephen Small's Preserving Family Land series (Landowner Planning Center, 2002), which is directed at landowners, and Janet Diehl and Thomas Barrett's classic, The Conservation Easement Handbook (Land Trust Alliance, 1988), which has served as a basic source of information on how to create and operate a land trust and how to craft a conservation easement document. Brewer's book provides an overview of land trusts with their challenges and successes, as well as plenty of case studies of the leading land trusts, such as The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and the Marin Agricultural Land Trust.
Brewer is an emeritus professor of biology at Western Michigan University and a past president of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. With his biology background, Brewer sees a primary mission of land trusts as protecting land to maintain biodiversity. He also cites promoting aesthetics, managing the cost of community services, protecting water supplies, and maintaining moral responsibility as justifications for the preservation of land.
Brewer sees land trusts as the most reliable stewards of conservation easements, even though he notes that about half of all land trusts are operated only by volunteers. Most conservation easements have been created in perpetuity. But one of the thorny questions is how durable are conservation easements over time? Brewer devotes several pages to this discussion and makes some good suggestions on how to avoid the extinguishment of conservation easements.
Brewer recognizes what he calls the "sprawl thwarting" purpose of land preservation, but he never explicitly states how private land preservation and public land use planning can coalesce into an effective public/private partnership. Brewer does conccde that land trusts cannot provide a complete solution to growth management, stating, "If land use planning isn't improved, the landscape of tomorrow will be a bleak place" (p. 56). He misses an opportunity, however, to show how conservation easements can be used with other planning techniques, such as agricultural zoning and urban growth boundaries.
Chapter 12 on farmland preservation is weak, largely because the author has had little experience with preserving farmland. Brewer believes there is a surplus of farmland in America, If this were the case, then why are Americans importing nearly $40 billion worth of food each year? [Several reasons including the cheapness of many commodities coming from Third World Countries as a result of globalization agreements such as WTO and NAFTA, the fact that much U.S. farmland acreage is devoted to crops that translate into human food indirectly if at all, and continuation of unprofitable land use owing to federal farm subsidies (mostly to agribusiness and rich farmers)-RB] Moreover, some of the nation's best farmland is under considerable development pressure in the Central Valley of California, southeast Pennsylvania, and metro areas of the Midwest. Nationwide, there are more farmers interested in selling conservation easements than there is money available.
A point missing from both Conservancy and Land Conservation Financing is that farmers and ranchers own most of the privately held land in America, about 940 million acres. [The point is made, in percentage terms, on page 247 of Conservancy--RB] If land trusts and public agencies are going to succeed in protecting wildlife habitat, wetlands, water supplies, narural areas, and farmland, they are going to have to work with the owners of agricultural land, Yet neither book mentions that the 2002 Farm Bill authorized $985 million in grants to state and local governments and land trusts to purchase conservation easements on farmland.-Tom Daniels, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania
Copyright 2004 American Planning Association
Choice 41(9) May 2004
Land trusts-there are now over 1,400 in the US-represent the fastest-growing sector in the American environmental movement. Land trusts are private, nonprofit organizations with the conservation and protection of private land as their primary mission. Nonconfrontational and apolitical, they work with willing landowners in voluntary actions to secure conservation easements that protect the property in perpetuity. In this first comprehensive treatment of the land trust movement and of conservation easements, Brewer (emer., Western Michigan Univ.) provides a long-overdue primer on the historical development of land trusts, what they do, the legal basis that supports their work, the challenges they face, and the role they will play in the coming decades. The book also provides a how-to guide for people interested in donation or selling easements, and for nonprofit organizations interested in acquiring them. Four major national land trusts are discussed (The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, American Farmland Trust, and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy), along with many examples of local organizations. Conservancy is a must-read for people interested in land conservation, including academics, college students, conservation professionals, and advocates. Summing up: Recommended. All levels.-S. Hollenhorst, University of Idaho
Copyright 2004 American Library Association
.
Landscape Architecture 94(2) February 2004
This book explores the land trust movement in the United States and explains how private, nonprofit organizations have in recent years become the dominant method of land conservation. Chapters cover conservation easements, farmland protection, and greenways; included are profiles of the larger land trusts (The Nature Conservancy, The Land Trust Alliance, and The Trust for Public Land) as well as a discussion of smaller, local-scale organizations.
Copyright 2004 American Society of Landscape Architects.
Natural Resources Journal 43(4) Fall 2003
Dealing with the protection of natural land and open space by land trusts and conservancies--how they work, their history, and their promise for the future and bringing together information on the history of conservation trusts and the personal motives and considerations involved in the establishment of trusts.
Copyright 2003 The Natural Resources Journal.
Website of the American Association of University Presses June 2004.
[Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America is included in the newly published bibliography, Books for Understanding: The Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy compiled by Mark Sidel. It is in the section "Social Activism and Social Change."-RB]
Website of The New York Botanical Garden Shop in the Garden February 2004.
With Conservancy, Richard Brewer has written the first comprehensive treatment of land trusts. It combines a historical overview of this important element of the conservation movement with specific information on exactly how they go about acquiring and administering land. As a resident of the erstwhile Garden State, where almost daily we encounter the appalling and alarming results of relentless overdevelopment, I regard Conservancy as a real manifesto for anyone interested in making sure America does not squander its precious birthright of natural bounty and beauty.
Copyright 2004 The New York Botanical Garden.
Library Journal 128 (19) 15 November 2003
Brewer (biological sciences, emeritus, Western Michigan Univ.; The Science of Ecology) takes a panoramic view of land conservancy in the United States. Previous works on this topic-almost all of which are out of print-focus on either specific regions or the activities of a specific group. The author lays out a uniquely American movement of preserving natural land through its acquisition by private nonprofit organizations. He presents a bit of its history, dating from the mid-1800s, and insight into the various incarnations that have evolved. Most of the land conservancy activities fall under the sponsorship of more than 1300 small local groups (although Brewer also discusses three major national trusts: the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, and Farmland Protection). Having served as president of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, he holds these "small" groups in high esteem, and to that end his book is also a how-to manual on establishing land trusts. Recommended for public and academic libraries supporting environmental policy or ecology programs.-Margaret F. Dominy, Drexel Univ. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.