A matter of trust by Kari Bellingham As Heather Cegielski walks along the wooden fence framing her property near River Falls, she closes her eyes and slowly inhales the cool autumn air. With her hands tucked into the pockets of her oversized flannel coat, she smiles and listens to the birds loudly chirping in the tall oak and maple trees above. Leaves in luxurious hues of red and gold carpet the ground, crunching beneath her brown boots as she meanders through the piece of rural property she calls her dream. As the trees begin to thin and give way to a clearing, Cegielski suddenly stops. “There,” she says, gesturing with a sweep of her arm toward the land just on the other side of the worn fence. “This is why we bought this house.” The 350 acres of land spilling before her is nothing short of breathtaking. Prairie grasses softly blowing in the breeze melt into gently sloping hills dotted with evergreens and their autumn-hued deciduous counterparts. A crop of the rocky bluffs Western Wisconsin is famed for jut out against the horizon, the late afternoon’s blazing orange sun setting a stunning backdrop. Ahead, a brown tail is all that can be seen peeking from the tall native grasses before Cegielski’s 3-year-old chocolate lab, Bella, comes bounding toward her, wriggling with the sheer excitement of being free to roam through this piece of nature-lover’s paradise. Cegielski slowly leans down to pick up the stick Bella has dropped at her feet, then quickly throws it deep into the field before her. Watching Bella eagerly chase after her prize, she smiles and shakes her head. “Sometimes I just can’t believe how lucky we are to be living next to something like this,” Cegielski says. “And what’s even better is that we can go to bed at night knowing that this land will be here, untouched, for as long as we are.” That’s because in an era of urban sprawl, 25-year-old Cegielski and her 31-year-old husband, Kevin, happen to live next to a piece of land preserved through a land trust. Land trusts are non-profit, non-governmental conservation organizations that “actively work to protect natural resources through partnerships with private and public landowners,” according to the Web site of Gathering Waters Conservancy, one of 50 land trusts in Wisconsin. Combined, these 50 land trusts have worked to protect more than 60,000 acres of land in Wisconsin, according to Rick Gauger, executive director of the West Wisconsin Land Trust. As the largest land trust in Wisconsin, the West Wisconsin Land Trust alone has worked to protect more than 10,000 acres of land in the state. While each land trust operates slightly differently, Gauger says many land trusts, like his own, work primarily with private landowners in an effort to protect privately held land from development. Landowners who work with land trusts to preserve their property enter into a land-preservation agreement, which stipulates that their land may not be developed. Although this requires a serious commitment, Gauger says it has not stopped an increasing number of Wisconsinites from setting their property aside for conservation. “People live in Wisconsin and the Midwest because they enjoy the character of our state,” Gauger says. “It includes lakes, small farms, forests and the like. When people go driving right now, they see the leaves changing and the beauty that is Wisconsin. That’s why people live here. People are taking it into their own hands to preserve this land for generations to come. They’re not going to wait for the state or county to come up with zoning restrictions to stop development.” This growing trend in land conservation is what ultimately convinced the Cegielskis to buy their house. As young professionals, Heather and Kevin were living in their first home in the river town of Prescott, when they decided to try to find a piece of rural property that would still allow each of them to commute to work in the Twin Cities area. But nearly every piece of property they looked at was either too expensive or too likely to become the next victim of western Wisconsin’s rapid development. So when the Cegielskis found a house on 10 acres of wooded land that was not only affordable but adjoined 350 acres of land that would never be developed, they were sold. “The sole reason we bought our house is because that land is in a land trust and won’t be developed,” Cegielski says. “We might not own it, but we benefit from it every bit as much as the people who are working to preserve it.” And while the Cegielskis are enjoying the land, they also can enjoy the fact that they benefit from the land without dealing with the costs and paperwork involved in conserving land through a land trust. Individual landowners who are interested in preserving their property must first obtain a landowner worksheet, according to Gauger. On this worksheet, they must write what they want to do with the land, why they want to preserve it and how they envision the property in the distant future. A land trust employee will then call the landowner to talk about goals and concerns relating to the property. The employee follows this with a visit to inspect the property and discuss the uses and restrictions the landowner wants to apply to the property. Although all landowners who preserve their land have to agree not to develop the land, they work with the land trusts to decide which of their other rights to the land they want to give up, such as the right to log the property or hunt and fish on the land, Gauger says. He emphasized that landowners do not have to open their land to the public or share it with anyone else if they decide to preserve it. Once the details of how the land will be handled are worked out, land trust employees work with the landowner to write up a land preservation agreement. The landowners then take this written agreement to an attorney to make sure it accurately represents their interests. When that checks out, the land is appraised and title work is done on the property. Once all of this has been finalized, everything is signed and recorded, ensuring the land is officially in a preservation agreement. The cost of this process amounts to about $10,000 on average, Gauger says. But he points to incentives for landowners considering preserving their property. In addition to the satisfaction of knowing that the piece of property will be preserved forever, landowners also get tax deductions in the form of non-cash charitable deductions. The land trust also can receive grant money from the government or other agencies to partially compensate the land owner for preserving the land. This is especially likely if the land is unique and in dire need of preservation, Gauger says. But Gauger does not think the costs of land preservation have affected this growing trend. In fact, he expects to see an increase of interested landowners in the future. “I really think we’re just scratching the surface in private land preservation. Many people don’t know a whole lot yet about land trusts or what we do. As word continues to trickle out, I think there will be a steady increase,” Gauger says. And Gauger may be right. Stuart and Phoebe Parsons of Cedarburg, Wis., are two of a growing number of people who are deciding to conserve their land. The Parsons put 157 acres of their property into a land preservation agreement several years ago after they discovered that much of the marshy land was a breeding ground for Great Blue Herons. “When we found out it was a heron rookery, we decided no one should ever build on it,” Phoebe Parsons says. The Parsons bought the land in 1967 simply because it came with their house. They did little with the land until several years ago, when the pressure to develop started to increase. “When we bought it, this land was pretty far out in the country. Now, Cedarburg is growing like mad and is growing out,” Phoebe Parsons says. “There’s a lot of pressure here, in this part of the county, to develop.” Unwilling to succumb to the pressure to develop their land, the Parsons started looking for a means to preserve the land. They ended up working with the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust and put all 157 acres in a preservation agreement. They were lured by both the prospect of permanently preserving the heron breeding grounds on their land and the tax deductions. Today, the Parsons’ land is still private and they continue to allow it to exist in its natural state. The only change is that now a land trust employee walks through the property once a year to make sure the Parsons are abiding by the rules of their preservation agreement. The Parsons also mow paths through the land when it is dry so they can enjoy the herons and they also try to manage any invasive species they notice in the property’s delicate ecosystem. When they first put their land into a preservation agreement, Phoebe Parsons says the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources examined the land and estimated that there were as many as 60 heron nests on the property. “This is just a really good thing to do. When we moved out here, it was really rural. Now everything is getting really developed,” Phoebe Parsons says. “And this is especially a good thing to do if you have a habitat that is really important on your property.” But, the lengths the Parsons and many other Wisconsinites have gone to in order to preserve land is more than just a good thing – it is an act of generosity. Stuart Parsons estimates that when he and Phoebe put their land into a conservation easement several years ago, it was worth more than $1 million. And Phoebe Parsons says several prime sites on the property could have attracted developers willing to pay top prices. But Stuart Parsons says giving up the right to develop the land pays off in just knowing that it will be preserved for generations to come. “It’s definitely worth it,” Stuart Parsons says. Phoebe Parsons also feels land conservation is set to become an important part of Wisconsin’s future. “I think this is becoming more popular because I think more people are starting to become aware that it’s a possibility,” Phoebe Parsons says. Dave Horst is among the growing number of Wisconsinites who are learning about land trusts. He got involved with land trusts through his job about a year-and-a-half ago, when he was invited to a breakfast meeting to hear about the non-profit organizations. His interest was immediately piqued. “It seemed to be such a reasonable and effective means of conservancy that it got me interested,” Horst says. “It just made sense.” Horst eventually got involved as a volunteer for a local land trust, and he spent time walking through preserved land to make sure the landowners were complying with the rules of the preservation agreement. Horst thoroughly enjoyed his time touring preserved land, as well as the dedication he saw from the landowners. He and his wife, Jean, plan to eventually set aside 33 acres of former Christmas tree property they purchased. “In the Appleton area here, we’ve seen a lot of development. It seems like every week when you’re driving into work, you see another development going up into what used to be a field. I want assurance that there will be land for people to explore nature and the beauty and tranquility that comes with that,” Horst says. Yet while many landowners are enthusiastic about conserving land, the thousands of dollars in legal fees and appraisal costs prohibit some from working with a land trust to put their land in a preservation agreement. But these landowners can rest assured that when they are ready, there will be a land trust near them willing to help. While Minnesota has only one land trust, Wisconsin’s strong network of 50 organizations holds its own against states with long-standing traditions of land trusts, such as Connecticut, which has one land trust in every township. “Out east there is a tradition of land trusts, and Wisconsin is starting to catch up. I think people are seeing things change and are seeing more development, and they want to do something about it,” says Cate Harrington, director of communications and media for the Nature Conservancy, a state land trust that also serves as an international non-profit organization that deals with other conservation issues. As land trusts work to expand their influence and get the word out to private landowners about what they do, Gauger says only time and the support of landowners who have worked with land trusts can help boost these growing organizations. And he is convinced that the support of satisfied landowners will see to the growth of land trusts. “The individual landowners that we work with are our best advertisers,” Gauger says. “They are the future of land trusts in Wisconsin.” close this window to return to CURB |
