LAND CONSERVATION

Royal River Conservation Trust (RRCT) conserves land in two principle ways – through conservation easements or acquisition. RRCT Real Estate Interests

RRCT currently holds 28 easements and owns six preserves. The organization obtained its real estate interests in a variety of ways including receiving easements and land through local subdivision processes, tax-deductible donations, or by purchasing easements and land in partnership with other conservation organizations and various levels of government. Click here for a region-wide map of our easements.

Today, RRCT actively works with landowners and community leaders to conserve land in the 12-town Royal River region. RRCT’s 2005 Royal River Region Conservation Plan guides the organization to focus its resources on conserving lands whose biological, recreational, historic, agricultural, and scenic values are critical to the functioning of this developing region.

The overall goal of RRCT’s land conservation program is to establish connected greenways and preserves on lands that are important to the Royal River communities, contain multiple public benefits, and are essential to the ecological health of the region. We imagine a region where our healthy communities are knitted together by an infrastructure of conservation lands – a variety of places that allow wildlife to thrive, people a place to enjoy the outdoors, and local agriculture to flourish.

Royal River Conservation Trust’s land conservation program focuses on providing options to landowners who may want to conserve a portion of their property as part of their estate or development plans. Landowners interested in conservation frequently seek ways to protect the unique values of their property, remove the specter of development, share their land for traditional recreation, and keep the property affordable for themselves or their heirs. Because Royal River Conservation Trust (RRCT) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization, landowners can sometimes receive income and estate tax benefits through charitable land transactions.