That was part of the response a land trust received after informing a neighbor they were prohibited from cutting trees on the land trust’s preserve. Neighbors like this think only of their view. The chainsaws (or bulldozers) are not stopped by the deed description. Luckily for this land trust they are a Terrafirma member and had insured their preserves. Terrafirma covered this claim helping the land trust to prevail in court and recover costs and damages.

Unfortunately, the disputes Terrafirma sees demonstrate that preserves face serious expensive legal issues from deliberate tree cutting, bulldozing and the construction of various structures by neighbors – and at relatively the same rates as conservation easements.

About 61% of Terrafirma’s member land trusts insure both easements and preserves. If your land trust has not yet insured its preserves (or easements) with Terrafirma please consider doing so for 2023. I hope you join the crowd in the risk pool. Terrafirma can help ensure that your preserves are preserved.

Please contact me (tkester[at]lta.org) if you are interested in learning how to insure your land trust’s preserves. You might be surprised at the number of parcels that can be counted as one preserve!