KINGMAN, Kan. (AP) About 120,000 acres of Kansas land are in conservation easements and the director of the Nature Conservancy of Kansas says the number is growing.
The easements allow landowners to restrict the use of their land forever, generally to keep the property in its natural state.
Rob Manes, director of the Nature Conservancy of Kansas, says his group’s goal for easement is protecting critical habitats, like remnants of the tallgrass prairie. Other conservation groups also promote the easements.
He says more landowners consider easements out of fear the grasslands will be developed or become a patchwork of wind farms.
The Wichita Eagle reports financial compensation is available to landowners, to offset the drop in the land’s value after the easement is in place.
