Accepting Donations of Land or Conservation Restrictions
Principles approved unanimously by Newton Conservators Board, 26 Feb 2025
Newton Conservators supports the permanent protection of land in Newton through perpetual conservation restrictions (CRs). Our preference is for land to be donated to city government or a state agency, with Newton Conservators holding a perpetual CR on the land. We hold CRs in this way on many public spaces the City of Newton has purchased with Community Preservation Act funds. In very rare cases, Newton Conservators itself may accept a donation either of land, ideally with a perpetual CR held by a public agency or another conservation nonprofit, or of a CR on land that otherwise remains in private ownership.
Land that is donated or on which a CR is placed should be important for conservation or open space, open to the public and meet the state of Massachusetts’ requirements for having a CR placed on it (see state application form and draft conservation restriction, last updated 2023).
Ideally the land would also be listed as a priority for protection in Newton’s Open Space & Recreation Plan (last updated 2020).
For donations of land or CRs directly to Newton Conservators, the donor is asked to cover the legal fees associated with the property transfer, including state approval and recording of any CR at the Registry of Deeds, and to provide a significant endowment for maintenance, monitoring and enforcement through the years.
Newton Conservators lacks the legal experse to advise landowners about donating land or CRs. We urge landowners to obtain advice from qualified conservation or land attorneys. We cannot provide referrals or endorsements, but several larger conservation organizations in Massachusetts offer useful resources, including attorney listings:
Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions
Resource Library includes a specific link for Conservtiaon Restrictions
Directory of Services includes attorneys
Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition
Landowner Resource Library includes Conservation Restrictions: A Tool for Landowner and Community
Service Provider Directory includes attorneys
Mass Audubon
Publications & Resources include Mass Audubon’s widely used Conservation Restriction Manual (last updated 2024)
Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and Rural Land Foundation
under “What We Do,” Land Conservtiaon includes information about conservation restrictions
Sudbury Valley Trustees
Landowner Resources include Conservation Restrictions: A Guide for Landowners
Trustees of Reservations
conservation restrictions resources include
conservation restrictions resources include sample legal documents and Conservation Restrictions Landowner Handbook