Project Address: Off Hwy 5 in Annetta North
Proposed Easement Size: 80 acres of horse farm, homes and improved pasture
20 acres of improved upper pasture with empty homesite
20 acres of undeveloped woodlands and prairie
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to define the criteria and processes by which Connemara Conservancy Foundation (Connemara) evaluates and selects projects to pursue within its stated mission and strategic Plan. This criterion is to be used to determine if a transaction is appropriate and worthwhile for Connemara to undertake. Meeting the criteria detailed herein does not automatically mean a project will be undertaken. Nor does failure to meet the criteria mean automatic rejection. These criteria are applicable to projects offered to Connemara as well as defining projects that Connemara would like to pursue.
Mission
"To work with landowners and communities who share our love of the land to protect and conserve the critical natural landscapes remaining throughout North Texas."
Connemara Overview
Connemara Conservancy’s service area covers a 33 county region in North Central Texas. With the DFW Metroplex at its urbanized core, the area of particular interest is loosely bounded by Wichita Falls to the West, Tyler to the East, the Red River on the North and Waco to the South. This region spans multiple distinctive ecoregions in North Texas from east to west: the Post Oak Savannah, the Blackland Prairie, the Eastern Cross Timbers, the Fort Worth and Grand Prairies, and the Western Cross Timbers. The Red River Area is represented along the northeastern boundary, and the Rolling Plains begin at the far western edge of the service area.
The Challenge
Wildlife habitat and historical family farms/ranches are under pressure from fragmentation and development. While traditional development is easy to observe in or near urban areas as retail and residences spring up on what was recently open space (awkward phrasing), a more hidden development is occurring in the mid to far reaches of the Connemara operating range. In this mid to far range, large parcels of land are being sub-divided into smaller ranchettes and may be bought by individuals with no recent connection to the land and unaware of issues related to rural conservation.
As a result of this fragmentation, native prairies, grasslands, and wetlands are especially at risk. As parcel size decreases, the impact of infrastructure to support weekend recreational usage will have a negative effect on habitat. Native or partially native grasslands may be converted to a cultivated monoculture for ornamental or specific uses or not managed to remove successional growth. Wetlands may be drained to provide areas more suitable for development. Riparian corridors are apt to have timber removed and to be channeled to locally lessen the impact of seasonal rainfall.
Strategic Plan
The strategic plan developed by Connemara in 2007 strengthens our commitment to conservation and preservation of the most critical parcels in our service area. These critical parcels are defined by the multiple eco-regions contained in our service area. Connemara is developing a GIS database of open space in the entire service area to assist in identifying these remaining parcels.
Our conservation goal is to create and enact a proactive land conservation strategy which will allow us to protect at least 6,000 acres or hold 20 quality easements with sound stewardship policies in place by 2010.
Project Selection Criteria
Project Types
The Strategic plan outline the types and priorities of projects that Connemara is currently undertaking and the direction in which Connemara wishes to grow.
1. Conservation Easement Donation
2. Conservation Development
a. Educate Local Government on benefits
b. Educate Developers
c. Educate potential buyers
3. Trade Lands
4. Other year Capacity Building (in relative order)
· Mitigation Lands
· Fee Simple Land Donations
· Conservation Buyers Program
· Purchased Conservation Easements
· Fee Simple Land Purchases
· Military Buffer Program
Conservation Value and Public Benefit
Because Connemara is a qualified land trust according to the IRS guidelines (found in Chapter 170(h) of the IRS Code), the organization must first satisfy the “conservation purposes” test for all conservation easements. In order to meet this test, an easement must meet one or more of the following:
· Outdoor Recreation and Education Values: the preservation of land areas for outdoor recreation by, or the education of, the general public [see Treasury regulations 1.170 14(d)(2)].
· Natural Resources Conservation Values: the protection of a relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or similar ecosystem [see Treasury regulations 1.170-14(d)(3)].
· Open Space Conservation Values: (A) the preservation of open space (including farmland and forestland) where such preservation is for the scenic enjoyment of the general public and will yield a significant public benefit [see Treasury regulations 1.170-14(d)(4)].
· Open Space Conservation Values: (B) the preservation of open space (including farmland and forestland) where such preservation is pursuant to a clearly delineated federal, state or local governmental conservation policy and will yield a significant public benefit [see Treasury Regulations 1.170-14(d)(4)] .
· Historic Conservation Values: the preservation of an historically important land area or certified historic structure [see Treasury regulations 1.170-14(d)(5)].
Each conservation value offers additional explanation and clarification within the regulations. Once it is determined that a potential project meets one or more of the Conservation Values test, Connemara will further consider the additional criteria.
Connemara Resource Values
· Provides open space valuable to a community due to its proximity to developing areas or because it helps define a community’s identity;
· Furthers and/or is consistent with government conservation plans or policies;
· Buffers, adds to or otherwise helps protect or improve already protected areas;
· Is under probable threat from future development;
· Or is not under immediate development threat;
· Represents a prudent financial investment in conservation;
· Is of sufficient size to provide public benefit and its resource values are likely to remain intact, even if adjacent properties are developed;
· Initiates or serves as a precedent that leads to additional protection.
Connemara’s coverage area is divided by its proximity to the center of the DFW Metroplex. Concentric rings are drawn outward on 25-mile spacings to rank the proximity to the metroplex, with 250 miles roughly defining the east/west radii to the coverage boundary, and 100 miles defining the north/south radii to the coverage boundary. Proximity and other factors weigh in to determine the desirability of potential easements for Connemara within this ringed approach.
Proximity
Size decreases in importance as a valuation criterion as proximity to near-term development increases. Size also decreases in importance when potential tracts are considered in proximity to other current or potential easements. Simply put, a 10-acre tract is more attractive if located near Plano than a 10-acre tract 200 miles from DFW; all other considerations being equal. (What are the exact sizes we agreed upon?)
Uniqueness
Uniqueness of a property is a valuation criterion that should play into consideration.
Geographic, topographic, scenic views and presence of micro-ecoregions should be considered when making easement decisions. Obviously the presence of critical habitat or habit for an endangered species should be of high priority, but any special management responsibilities for these habitats should be weighed in this consideration.
Native Habitat
The percent of native species vegetation coverage should be considered when evaluating property. A smaller tract with a high percentage of native plant species may be more attractive than a larger tract that has been intensively cultivated or planted with non-native species. However, overall habitat quality should equally be considered, as many native animals also do well in non-native habitats.
Ethics
The conservation ethic of the landowner needs to be considered in the decision. The landowner needs to have a full understanding of the purposes of a conservation easement and its permanence. A landowner that has the determination and funds to implement a restoration plan could swing the decision on a marginal property.
Specific Ecoregion Criteria
As a subset of the general decision criteria, each tract should be evaluated against the characteristics of its ecoregion. These ecoregions are listed in the rough order from highest to lowest priority, based on their classification byTP&W:
Blackland Prairie
Cross Timbers and Prairie
East Cross Timbers
Fort Worth Prairie
Lampasas Cut Plain
West Cross Timbers
Post Oak Savannah
Red River Area
Rolling Plains
Do we want to copy the sections previously developed in here or just reference the TP&W website?
Unsolicited Easements
Unsolicited easements should be evaluated under the same criteria for inclusion in the Connemara Portfolio.
Solicited Easements
Solicited easements should be held to a higher standard than unsolicited easements. These easements should be the crown jewels of Connemara’s portfolio. In addition to the above selection criteria, guidelines from work done by other conservation agencies (e.g.
The Nature Conservancy, Native Prairies Association of Texas, Texas Land Trust, Trust for Public Land, etc.) and the Connemara Open Space Map data should be used to target prime parcels that are representative of the ecoregion or sub-ecoregion containing them.
Significance or Priority of a Project
Each project will have a significance derived from the Mission and the Strategic Plan. The determination of significance will to a large degree be subjective, but it should retain its’ value once a determination is made. The long-term goal should be to develop more subjective criteria. Descriptive phrases such as “Highly Significant”, “Significant”, “Marginal”, or “Doubtful Value” will be used as a classification guide to state the classification of significance.
Once assigned a significance value, each project can be assigned a priority ranking relative to other projects having similar value. Priority ranking can change as additional projects are presented, new information is revealed during the evaluation process, natural or manmade effects impact the projects, or unanticipated resources materialize to support a specific project.
Priority ranking will be a continual process conducted at executive levels. It should be formalized in order to document the elements of final decisions so future reviewers will be properly informed as to the basis for those decisions. Changes in ranking will in some cases require a reevaluation of significance.
Determination of Significance and Priority is a dynamic process which must proceed at a suitable pace relative to the rate of new project presentations. On the other hand, it should not be so volatile that the desired effects of conservation cannot be achieved. These effects are the identification of projects for selection to pursue, the allocation of resources in that pursuit, successful conclusion of projects, or elimination of projects from the list. The optimal evaluation pace will be dependent upon the rate at which project opportunities become available and the resources available to conduct evaluations.
Feasibility and Stewardship
Before accepting an easement, Connemara must ensure that other factors do not pose an obstacle to accepting the easement.Such factors may include:
· Probable development of adjacent properties in a manner that would significantly diminish the conservation values of the property;
· Landowner insistence on provisions in the easement that would seriously diminish the property's primary conservation values;
· Inadequate access to the property for management or monitoring;
· Expensive stewardship responsibilities due to the location of the property, maintenance of structures, management of resources, hazards or liability problems, or other issues;
· Unusually difficult stewardship responsibilities (e.g. multiple or fractured ownerships, frequent incidence of destructive trespassing, fencing restrictions, irregular configuration of the property, easement provisions that are difficult to enforce or monitor, etc.);
· Lack of staff or volunteer capacity to management the project over time;
· Lack of financial capacity to monitor and defend the easement;
· Ethical, public image, or conflict of interest problems that accompany the property;
· Irreparable contamination on the site (or prohibitive cleanup costs)
Conservation easements are designed to operate in perpetuity. As such, Connemara must have sufficient financial resources to ensure easements can be monitored and violations enforced for years to come. To ensure this, a stewardship endowment and administrative donation are being requested for each easement. The amount of endowment is calculated using a spreadsheet that takes size, proximity, ROI, etc into consideration to determine the amount necessary to ensure Connemara can meet its financial and ethical commitment to the stewardship of each easement.
Board of Director’s Discretionary Role in Easement Acquisition
The Board of Directors retains discretion over easement acquisition and will evaluate each project and proposal on its own merits after careful investigation of the property, its resources and its public benefits.
Declining Potential Easement Projects
A proposed easement project may be declined for various reasons. It may be that the project is clearly a poor fit to Connemara’s criteri,a or it may be that Connemara is unable to pursue the easement due to other priorities, timing, or complexity. In these cases, Connemara should work with the landowner to suggest alternative options, identify situations which exclude the project and work with the landowner to identify other agencies which may be more appropriate to handle their project at that time. The landowner should be notified of the decision in writing and Connemara should maintain future contact.
Approving Marginal or Non-qualifying Criteria
Some projects may marginally fall within Connemara’s criteria or clearly fall outside the defined parameters. It is within the discretionary role of the board to approve such projects. This discretionary authority override the criteria should only be exercised after consideration of factors such as:
· No other organization can do so and it is worthy of completing by some entity;
· It will establish an important relationship with a landowner, agency or funder;
· The project is important not in and of itself, but as a piece of a bigger conservation picture;
· Some aspect of the project’s resources is of value even though this value is not reflected by the organization’s written project selection criteria
If a decision is made to take on a project that is marginal or clearly outside of the defined criteria, a written report should be generated to address why the project was accepted. Areas of discussion to be addressed include consistency with Connemara’s overall mission, public benefit, ethical or public image problems, financial impact to Connemara Conservancy, and an examination of other conservation alternatives that were available for consideration when the potential easement was being reviewed.