Athens Conservancy can conserve land in several ways: direct purchase, assisting others with grants and acquisition, using conservation buyers, creating conservation easements with land owners, contributing financially to other purchase efforts, and receiving properties as gifts and bequests: Donations Page.
Direct Purchase: Athens Conservancy has acquired most of its land by direct purchase using Clean Ohio Green Space Fund grants. It has also received land by gift, and has contributed to the efforts of other organizations and state agencies to purchase directly.
Lifetime Tenancy: An interesting variation on direct purchase is a lifetime tenancy. In this mode, Athens Conservancy purchases the land, with the current resident (or a designated resident) to be able to occupy a dwelling there for the rest of their lives or until they voluntarily relinquish it. This enables the conservancy to 1) get a better price on property, and 2) protect it now rather than delay and risk losing the opportunity in the future. We have not yet used this method, but are very willing to do so for the right property.
In the case of normal purchase, it still can be part of the deal for the seller to retain certain specified rights such as hunting or gathering firewood in order to complete the deal.
Donations: Donations to the conservancy are generally tax-deductible, but consult a professional to determine the tax situation. Donations of land may be made for two purposes, which are agreed upon between the donor and the Conservancy: to hold the land in perpetuity as a preserve, or to provide the Athens Conservancy an opportunity to sell the land to fund its operations. For more information: Donate Land Page
Conservation Buyers: These buyers are people who acquire land in order to hold it until the Athens Conservancy has obtained a grant to purchase it. We have done this with the Blair Preserve and smaller parcels of land. We hope to be able to do this more in the future.
Conservation Easements: All land ownership is, in essence, the ownership of a diverse set of rights pertaining to the land. These individual rights include, but are not limited to, development, subdivision, timbering, agriculture, manufacturing, residence, and mineral extraction. People who are concerned with conserving their land during their lifetimes or during a shorter tenure on the land may negotiate conservation easements with the Athens Conservancy in order to ensure that some of these rights will be taken “off the table” for conservation purposes. For more information: Conservation Easements Page
Download a list of Completed Athens Conservancy Projects