Welcoming Calah Young to Putnam Rotary are (l to r) Tom Midkiff, Jim McKee, and Glen Gibbs

June 16, 2009

Organized in 1995 as a member-supported non-profit organization to protect the natural settings and scenic lands of the state, the West Virginia Land Trust has assisted owners to protect thousands of acres from encroaching development, Calah Young told Putnam Rotarians in their luncheon meeting today.

The organization enters "conservation easements" with property owners.

An easement applies to all future owners of the property. Following the easement, the property continues to be managed and used by its owner.

"The owner gives up certain development rights," said Young, "in order to ensure that the land stays in its original state."

Young cited such areas as Dolly Sods and the Cranberry Glades as home for plants and wildlife found nowhere else south of Canada.

"What the owner gets out of the contract," she said, "is certain tax benefits provided by the federal government."

Also, on the local level, "the land is reassessed because the oqner is giving up certain future development rights."

The Land Trust presently holds easements for tracts which include a lakefront nature preserve for research and nature study, and multiple farms and private land.

Some 17,000 acres are presently included in easement contracts with the organization, the only state-wide land trust in West Virginia.