Stewards of the Land

Landowner: Priscilla Hanford

Place She Calls Home: Paradise, California

Conservation Easement Completed: 1999

Land Trust Staff: Please introduce us to your property, and share what makes it unique.

Priscilla: Our easement covers nearly 100 acres of relatively intact mixed coniferous forest, which provides important habitat for a wide variety of indigenous plants and animals. Our kids called it the Hanford’s Hundred-Acre Woods, and it stuck.

Land Trust Staff: Please tell us about your land ethic.

Priscilla: My husband and I both grew up outdoor kids, he in Pennsylvania, and I in Vermont & Delaware. We both were drawn to the natural environment. We shared strong environmental values, and the concept of land stewardship was deeply ingrained. You might say it was in our DNA.

Land Trust Staff: Why did you want to protect this property? What factors played into your decision to put a Conservation Easement on your land?

Priscilla: The concept of a Conservation Easement was never foreign to us. I have friends on the East Coast who have also used Easements to protect their land, and our kids were in favor of it too. We acquired this acreage in 1961, and always intended to conserve it.

My husband and I spent over 15 years working with multiple conservation organizations before successfully closing the Easement with the Parks and Preserves Foundation [later renamed the Northern California Regional Land Trust]. Along the way, one of the groups we worked with helped to shape our vision for the Easement. The Paradise Ridge Land Trust was experimental, but had a lot of people who really cared about the landscape, and didn’t just want to accomplish land preservation. They also wanted to incorporate silvicultural practices, and proposed that we use our property as a model for a new kind of conservation easement in the foothills. We agreed with their ideas, and the Parks and Preserves Foundation was brought in to provide technical assistance. As part of our conservation easement, the Parks and Preserves Foundation facilitated our timber assessment, and they made sure the real estate transaction was done correctly.

Land Trust Staff: What benefits have you seen from the Conservation Easement? Does it play a part in your legacy planning efforts?

Priscilla: For us, the Conservation Easement was a win-win — a way to save this land. We signed in 1999, and three years later, my husband passed away. This is his legacy. We spent a long time trying to make this happen, and are grateful that we were able to accomplish his vision during his lifetime.

“For us, the Conservation Easement was a win-win — a way to save this land. We signed in 1999, and three years later, my husband passed away. This is his legacy.”

Land Trust Staff: Are there any insights that you would share with another landowner who is trying to decide if a Conservation Easement is right for them?

Priscilla: Be sure of your personal goals. Be sure of what it is you want to establish, and that you are ready to invest in permanent conservation of the resources on your land. Educate yourself on the benefits and restrictions of a conservation easement to make sure it is really feasible for you. If this is the right fit, it can be a win-win for everyone involved.