We help landowners conserve their land.
Some of Alabama’s greatest family-owned landscapes are threatened by fragmentation and development. We help landowners protect these areas through conservation easements. A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust that permanently protects the conservation values of a property by limiting or restricting certain uses. Landowners continue to own and use their land, including carrying out traditional forestry and recreational practices. They can also sell it or pass it on to heirs. When the land is inherited or sold the restrictions of the easement stay in place.
Conservation easements in Alabama are typically donated to a land trust by the owner. If the donation benefits the public by permanently protecting important conservation resources and meets other federal tax code requirements, it can qualify as a tax-deductible charitable donation. The amount of the donation is the difference between the land’s value with the easement and its value without the easement.
A conservation easement can be essential for passing land on to the next generation. By removing the land’s development potential, the easement lowers its market value, which in turn lowers estate tax. Whether the easement is donated during life or by will, it can make a critical difference in the heirs’ ability to keep the land intact.
We have earned a reputation as the leading working forest land trust in Alabama, helping private landowners protect nearly 83,000 acres of forest and farm land through conservation easements.
One of the most important tasks of the Alabama Forest Land Trust (AFLT) is securing conservation easements. Easements hold great promise as one of the most effective techniques for the preservation of privately owned forestland in Alabama. Each easement is tailored to the particular property and to the interests of the individual owner. Easements keep private lands in private ownership. They allow land use traditions such as hunting, forestry and agriculture to continue. Most importantly, easements are a positive incentive for the landowner to ensure that future use of the property will be consistent with the owners' desires to protect certain characteristics of the land. Concern over the loss of Alabama’s forest and farmlands and their associated invaluable habitats, prompted the AFLT (as the Alabama Forest Resources Center) to form a land trust for working forests and farms at its annual meeting on September 12, 1999.
Our Mission
The AFLT was created to enhance, promote and preserve the productivity and sustainability of Alabama’s forest resources to ensure their economic and environmental benefits for future generations.
Established as the Alabama Forest Resources Center in 1986, the AFLT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization managed by an Executive Director and governed by a Board of Directors with state-wide representation. The name was changed to Alabama Forest Land Trust, Inc. in March 2022 to better reflect the organization’s mission.
