Metacomet Land Trust can assist Open Space Committees, Conservation Commissions, and other types of organizations to complete conservation land projects.
Metacomet is a private organization and can often offer a degree of privacy to the individual landowner that government boards and agencies may not.
As a tax-exempt land trust, we can collect, solicit, and manage private donations that can be applied to specific projects within a community or to broader projects that transcend town boundaries. Donations of land, or easements on private land, may be tax deductible and may also produce future estate and property tax savings for the donor, subject to the limits of the tax laws.
Metacomet is also in a position to be able to act more quickly than local or state governments when willing landowners wish to conserve their land on a strict timetable. In Massachusetts, land trusts are qualified to assume a town’s right of first refusal in the Chapter 61 process. When necessary, Metacomet has taken temporary custody of land that eventually will be acquired the state or a town.
Metacomet Land Trust has a governing board that draws from the area we serve and reflects a variety of skills, interests and experience in the immediate vicinity, to add depth and professionalism to our conservation transactions.
The Trust also acts as the enforcing conservation entity on deed restrictions, and is experienced in the drafting and monitoring of restrictions. In Massachusetts, which requires that all restrictions be approved by local and state government, this is essential.
These points are based on the book “Starting a Land Trust,” published by the Land Trust Alliance, and revised by Metacomet Land Trust based on local experience.
