About NCCT
North Central Conservancy Trust (NCCT) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization created to hold conservation easements on privately owned property, and to hold title on donated properties.
Mission
Endeavor to protect, worthy scenic, working lands and environmental resources for the benefit of the people of central Wisconsin.
Vision
North Central Conservancy Trust will be the leading organization to identify and permanently protect the property critical to the scenic and environmental quality of central Wisconsin.
Who benefits from NCCT's work?
The beauty of conservation easements is that everyone benefits. The landowners benefit from knowing that their land will forever be protected from development or abuse, regardless of future ownership. The public benefits from preservation of open landscapes with protection of scenic and ecologically valuable natural areas. Although the property value of land decreases with a conservation easement because it can no longer be developed, the value of real estate around easements usually increases. Many are willing to pay more for property in a landscape protected from unsightly development. The decrease in value of land protected with an easement is considered a philanthropic gift by the landowner who may be able to take an income tax benefit or get reduced real estate taxes.
What benefits are there for the landowner?
Landowners are usually motivated to protect their land for altruistic reasons...because they want to protect the conservation values and the scenic rural landscape and environmental quality of the region. Working lands, including forests and farms, can also be protected with conservation easements. In much of Wisconsin, our landscape is a scenic mix of farms, forests, and wetlands or natural areas. Aside from altruistic motivation, there may be direct and indirect financial benefits of conservation easements, to the landowner, neighbors, and local government. The reduced value of land protected by a conservation easement, because it cannot be developed, might qualify the landowner for reduced income and real estate taxes. Value of surrounding real estate often increases because many people are willing to pay more to live near open land with protected scenic and environmental values. Protection of scenic values and increased real estate values support tourism and the local tax base. Perhaps most important, everyone benefits from protection of scenic and environmental quality in and around our communities.
What role does NCCT play in conservation easements?
NCCT works with landowners to assist in development of conservation easements. Once an easement is completed to everyone's satisfaction and filed with the Register of Deeds, NCCT is legally responsible for ensuring that the conditions of the easement are permanently honored. As a fully endowed organization, NCCT has legal authority to enforce the conditions of an easement, even with litigation if necessary. Conservation easements are especially important for protecting the agricultural, scenic and environmental qualities of our landscape. The mission of NCCT includes educating the public and elected officials about the value of conservation benefits and the way in which easements can protect them. NCCT works closely with town and county officials, and is affiliated with Gathering Waters, a state-wide land trust organization that helps to coordinate land-protection activities among the more than 50 land trusts in Wisconsin. NCCT is also a member of the national Land Trust Alliance, that supports land protection across the country.
A Brief History of NCCT
North Central Conservancy Trust began in Wausau in 1994, when the city proposed to cross an undeveloped parcel of land with a sewer line. The owners, Mary Clare and Joe Freeman, loved their land, and did not want to see the woodland severely compromised by construction of a sewer. They were supported in their effort to oppose the construction by a neighbor, Jane Raymond-Wood, who contacted the Nature Conservancy for advice. They suggested a conservation easement, which the Freemans pursued. Needing an organization to hold the easement, the Freemans and Raymond-Wood recruited others who also were interested in protecting green-space and natural areas near Wausau, and NCCT was officially established as a non-profit organization. A few years later, the Wausau group joined forces with a similar group in Stevens Point, and the organization expanded. It now serves counties in central Wisconsin, with more than 33 easements protecting over 2600 acres.
