CONSERVATION OPTIONS FOR LANDOWNERS

Other than donated conservation easements, described under What is a Conservation Easement?, there are other conservation options available to landowners, briefly described below:

Resale of Land
If you need to sell your land but don’t want to see it destroyed by development, a land trust can help. Prior to the sale, you can work with your local land trust to place a conservation easement on the land before it goes on the market. Some land trusts can also help identify potential buyers for conserved lands.

Gifts of Land
Donating land for conservation is one of the finest legacies a person can leave to future generations. If you choose to donate your land, your land trust can work with you to identify the best arrangement. The land trust might retain ownership of the property as a permanent preserve or transfer the property to a suitable owner, such as a government agency. In some cases, the land is sold to a private owner, subject to a conservation easement held by the land trust. (Proceeds from such a sale could fund the land trust’s long-term management of the conservation easement and/or help it to protect even more land.) The full market value of land donated to a nonprofit land trust is tax deductible as a charitable gift.

Bargain Sale
In a bargain sale, you sell your land to a land trust for less than its fair market value. This not only makes it more afford¬able for the land trust, but offers several benefits to you: it provides cash, avoids some capital gains tax, and entitles you to a charitable income tax deduction based on the difference between the land’s fair market value and its sale price.

Purchase of Development Rights
Under very special circumstances, the land trust may be able to secure funding from federal, state, local, or private sources to purchase and permanently retire development rights on your property at their full appraised value. This option works exactly like a donated conservation easement, except that as a purchase, rather than a donation, you do not qualify for most of the available tax benefits.  

Most taken from: Conserving Your Land - Conservation Options by Land Trust Alliance.