Abstract: Land trusts, partnered with government agencies or acting alone, are working to conserve habitat, open

space, and working landscapes on private land. Spending both public and private funds, such institutions frequently
acquire less than full title by purchasing or accepting donations of conservation easements. These title and
organizational arrangements are evolving so fast that it is difficult to assess their conservation accomplishments and
long-term viability. To understand the contribution of these arrangements to the preservation and restoration of
biodiversity, conservation biologists need to identify the biological resources likely to be conserved and those likely to
be left unprotected through easements held by land trusts. We describe land trusts and conservation easements and
why they are currently an attractive approach to land protection. Our review of the literature showed that little
information is available on (1) the resulting pattern of protected lands and resources being conserved, (2) the
emerging institutions that hold conservation easements and the landowners they work with, and (3) the distribution of
costs and benefits of land trusts and easements to communities and the general public. The prescriptive literature on
how to establish land trusts and negotiate easements is extensive. However, easily available information on protected
resources is too aggregated to determine what is actually being conserved, and more detailed data is widely
scattered and hence difficult to synthesize. The social science literature provides some insight into the motives of
landowners who participate but offers little about the variety of institutions or which type of institution works best in
particular ecological and political settings. Equally undeveloped is our understanding of the inherent tension between
the public and private benefits of this widely used incentive-based conservation strategy. Interdisciplinary research is
needed to determine the ecological and social consequences of acquiring partial interest in private land for
conservation purposes.


Easement Dispute Real Estate Litigation Case
Study
Real Estate Litigation
At Nowland Law, Attorney Thomas F. Nowland and his team of attorneys have represented virtually
hundreds of companies and businesses of all sizes and in varying industries. These years of experience
have taught us that each business has its own unique needs and considerations when dealing with
business litigation. We strive to work with a business to achieve a desirable outcome
Case Study: Real Estate Litigation Easement Dispute
San Diego Superior Court
Result Settlement In Clients Favor Before Trial
An easement is a non-possessory right of use and/or entry onto the real property of another without
possessing it.
Our client in this case is a land owner in rural northern San Diego County. For years the small one lane
road on our clients land was used by twenty other land owners for ingress and egress to their respective
properties. In recent years, some of the up road landowners were developing their properties for
commercial purposes.
The Dispute
This caused increased use and over burdening of the easement on our clients property. More and more, our client
was experiencing increased semi tractor trailer and other traffic which was causing the asphalt road to
deteriorate. Damage to the property was occurring and the increased traffic was causing a nuisance related to noise,
dust, traffic accidents, and angry motorists.
The up road landowners demanded our client repair the road at its expense and even demanded our client widen it!

The Resolution
The Nowland Law Team got involved and discovered that despite the fact that the landowners all thought there was
a dedicated easement, there in fact was not. The up road landowners could only rely on an implied easement by
adverse possession because they had used the road for many years. What they did not know was that an easement
by adverse possession only gives the user the right for which past use. It does not give them the right to over burden
the easement or to modify it or widen it.
The Nowland Law Team led by Attorney Thomas F. Nowland filed a lawsuit against all twenty up road land owners
seeking to limit use of the road easement and establish the rights of the parties.
After months of litigation, the matter was settled before trial with the up road landowners title insurance companies
paying the settlement. Our client was compensated for the time and effort including attorney fees and costs and an
easement agreement was drafted and filed with the County which articulated the rights of the parties to the use of the
easement.


What Nowland Law Does For You
Successful business litigation does not always mean taking a case to court. It could mean negotiating
settlements, arbitration, or other arrangements. We will learn about your business goals and case details
to assess what the most favorable outcome for you is. We will then pursue that outcome aggressively.
We offer a unique approach to dealing with business problems and litigation by analyzing the issue, the matter, the
problem, and thereby offering real solutions that include consideration of the costs and possible outcomes. With our
previous clients, we have achieved this with a variety of disputes, legal budgets, and considerations.