Last Reviewed by MLTC: 01/07/2026.
Materials that explore the legal, practical, and organizational challenges of protecting conservation land in perpetuity. Includes enforcement responsibilities, risks of amendment, condemnation and conversion pressures, and the long-term stewardship practices needed to ensure conserved land remains protected over time.
Documents:
- Looking Ahead: Identifying and Avoiding the Perils of Perpetuity (Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. Massachusetts Easement Defense Subcommittee; March 27,2008)
Report of the Massachusetts Easement Defense Subcommittee outlining stewardship principles, enforcement guidelines, amendment considerations, and strategies to strengthen long-term protection of conservation restrictions.
Resource: medsfullreportmar08.pdf - Perpetuity: The Creed of Land Conservation (Mark Robinson; February 5, 2011)
Essay reflecting on the ongoing pressures to convert conserved land and the responsibility of land trusts to actively defend conservation land against well-intentioned but conflicting uses.
Resource: perpetuity_creedofland_conservation.pdf - When Forever Proves Fleeting: The Condemnation and Conversion of Conservation Land (Robert Levin; 2003)
Legal analysis examining how conservation land can be lost through condemnation or conversion, and evaluating statutory and procedural protections used to defend conservation land at the state and local levels.
Resource: when_forever_proves_fleeting.pdf