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BACKUS - Conservation easements allow owners to keep their land, use it or sell it and local governments to keep collecting taxes on it, but the easements prevent residential, commercial or industrial development.

The purpose of conservation easement is to retain natural land areas to protect water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. The number of easements is growing in the lakes area here.

There are costs for setting up easements and recording on deeds the easement terms. There are costs for either the county, Minnesota Land Trust or other agency to monitor the easements through to years to ensure owners follow use terms set in each easement.

Paula West, Leech Lake Watershed Foundation executive director, and Cass County Environmental Services Director John Ringle Tuesday reported to the county board on easements already granted and anticipated funding to do more easements not only in Cass, but also in Aitkin and Crow Wing counties.

In 2008, Cass mapped 59 of its lakes, finding 1,400 parcels and 228 miles of shoreline having high conservation potential. The sites had 400 or more feet of shoreline of five or more acres of land or both.[[In-content Ad]]

In 2009, a $75,000 Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources grant enabled Cass to establish easements for five properties. Those protected 11,450 shoreland feet with a market value of $5.7 million. They included protecting 3,000 feet of sensitive shoreline on Wabedo Lake near Longville.

In 2010, a state Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources $300,000 grant, supplemented with $22,000 from Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership, is available for easements in Cass. LCCMR approves funding distributed from state lottery proceeds, as established under a 1988 law.

The goal is to process 12 to 15 new easements by 2013. Eight are in process. West said these grants pay closing costs for setting up conservation easements. Leech Lake Watershed Foundation assists people with setting up an easement.

In 2011, Leech Lake Watershed Foundation expects to begin using a $1 million allocation from the newer three-eighths cent environmental state sales tax to process about 18 to 22 more conservation easements through 2014. Properties in Cass, Crow Wing and Aitkin Counties will be eligible.

The state Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council selects projects to benefit from this fund annually. The Legislature then must give final approval to where the money is spent. The Outdoor Heritage Council has approved this grant. It is pending Legislative approval in 2011, West said.

She expects six to eight miles of sensitive shoreline, including 600 to 800 adjacent acres in the three counties, to be preserved under this grant. Minnesota Land Trust will hold the easements approved under this grant. Three property owners on Washburn Lake holding property in Cass and Crow Wing Counties have expressed interest easements under this grant, West said. Over a mile of shoreline is involved.

More information is available on the Leech Lake Watershed website at www.leechlakewatershed.org.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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