Executive Summary
The continued growth and urbanization of Florida have sparked renewed interest in preserving and protecting natural areas, especially in areas designated in and around the Florida Wildlife Corridor. Conservation easements are commonly used to protect natural, scenic, and open spaces by binding the current and future owners in perpetuity to the restrictions specified in the easement.
Subsection 704.06(2), Florida Statutes, defines “conservation easements” as:
“…perpetual (emphasis added), undivided interests in property and may be created or stated in the form of a restriction, easement, covenant, or condition in any deed, will, or other instrument executed by or on behalf of the owner of the property, or in any order of taking.”
Despite the perpetual nature of conservation easements, there is still a possibility that “perpetual” conservation easements may not be “perpetual” after all. This risk exists because subsection 704.06(4), Florida Statutes, includes the following “escape clause:”
“A conservation easement may be released (emphasis added) by the holder of the easement to the holder of the fee even though the holder of the fee may not be a governmental body or a charitable corporation or trust.”
Landowners enter into conservation easement agreements for different reasons, often combined with personal, financial, or environmental motivations. These agreements, where landowners grant certain rights to a conservation organization or governmental entity to protect the land’s natural, agricultural, or cultural resources, offer a way to preserve the land’s character while the owner potentially benefits financially through tax incentives. Federal and state programs offer different funding options for purchasing conservation easements and have defined limits on how they can be released.
If a landowner wants to place a conservation easement on their property they can do so and add restrictions, including development, mineral extraction, or timber harvesting activities, on the property that remain with the property in “perpetuity.” These restrictions “run with the land” and do not change even if the land is granted or donated to a third party (such as a public agency or non-profit). Landowners who grant or sell a conservation easement still maintain the title of the property and rights based upon the negotiation process of the transaction between the landowner and the organization acquiring the property.
As of January 2025, approximately 1.15 million acres of Florida’s land are protected through established conservation easements. The state manages almost eight times as many acres as federally managed lands, more than nine times as many acres as private agencies, and almost 43 times as many acres as locally managed lands. Florida continues to make significant investments in conservation easements and continues to protect these areas through recurring investments.
More than $2.4 billion in taxpayer money has been invested in land acquisition, conservation easements, agricultural activity land protection, and wildlife habitat conservation efforts. As of January 2025, the state manages more than 866,000 acres of conservation easement land alone. Although most of the conservation easements are protected today, there is no guarantee that they will remain protected. The escape clause provisions in Chapter 704 allow a landowner to protect land under a conservation easement; continue limited use of the land; enjoy property tax and other tax exemptions; and when conditions dictate, sell or develop the land that was subject to the easement. Florida TaxWatch believes strongly that “perpetual” means just that --- perpetual.
To ensure that conservation easements remain permanent and “perpetual” and “bind the current and future owners in perpetuity to the restrictions,” as intended in section 704.06, Florida Statutes, Florida TaxWatch recommends : (1) amending subsection 704.06(4), Florida Statutes, to remove the escape clause provisions; and (2) amending subsection 704.06(4), Florida Statutes, to establish an “extinguishment clause;” and (3) amending subsection 704.06(4), Florida Statutes, to establish an “amendment clause.”
Removing the escape clause and adding the extinguishment and amendment clauses will help ensure that the state’s investments in conservation easements are permanently protected. This proposed amendment to current law would effectively render the ability to release a conservation easement as an extraordinary circumstance instead of when the right opportunity to sell the property to the highest bidder arises. Development pressures will continue to push landowners to consider selling their property and Florida can ensure that its $2.4 billion investments in conservation easements are protected from these pressures by amending this state statute now.