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Conservation Easements
Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation
Photo: Marika Sherman
Program Summary
Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation's (SSGF's) Conservation Easement program offers temporary and perpetual conservation easements for landowners with working agricultural lands (primarily grazing lands). Landowners sign an agreement with the Foundation to protect the biodiversity and ecological function of their land by restricting development and cultivation. Compensation is provided based on the financial value of the conservation easement.
Program characteristics
Province
Saskatchewan
Natural Features
Native Grasses
Agriculture Type
Rangeland / Pasture
Program Scope
Provincial
Conservation Approach
Protection
Incentive Type
Payment for Practices / Conservation / Credits
Delivery Agent Type
NGO
Commitment Type
Land Conservation / Protection, Management Agreement
Commitment Term
Medium Term (10 to 50 years), Perpetual, Short Term (1 to 10 years), Long Term (50 to 100 years)
Program web site
Conservation Goals
Conservation priorities of this program include protecting native prairie and grasslands at risk of conversion; conserving critical habitats for wildlife including species at risk, Pronghorn, and waterfowl.
Eligible Lands
Eligible lands include working agricultural landscapes in Saskatchewan – with a priority on grazing lands – that provide connectivity between critical or key habitats, are of sufficient size to provide ecosystem/biodiversity benefits, and/or contribute to creating a local area with a large percentage of grasslands.
Additional Details
The landowner retains ownership and control over access and management subject to the restrictions in the easement.
Landowners are free to sell, gift or will that property, but the easement is tied to the title and binds future landowners to the same land use restrictions for the length of the easement.
Temporary conservation easements must be a minimum of 25 years in length but can extend up to 30, 35, 40 years and more.
Commitment
Participants in this program sign a legally-binding agreement committing to protecting the biodiversity and ecological function of their land by restricting development and cultivation. Temporary conservation easements require the landowner to commit to no cultivation, no drainage, and no development for the period of the agreement.
Incentive
Compensation is provided for perpetual conservation easements based on the difference in Fair Market Value of the parcel with and without the easement. Grants of temporary conservation easements will be compensated based on a yet-to-be-determined method.
Contact Information
Interested landowners can fill in an application form on the SSGF web site at https://ssgf.ca/programs-available/conservation-easements/ or contact the SSGF form more information at communications@ssgf.ca or (306) 530-1385.
Important to Know
The SSGF will monitor conservation easements on a regular basis against a baseline report undertaken at the outset.
For more information, see: https://ssgf.ca/programs-available/conservation-easements/ and https://skstockgrowers.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Term-Easements.pdf