sell or donate your land

Whether you want your land to be considered for a nature preserve under Natural Lands’ care or you want to donate it as an asset property to support our financial health, you can leave a legacy with your land.

Sunset over a field of wheat with colorful clouds overhead and a farm in the distance.

choosing conservation

From large family farms to small suburban lots, land comes to us in many forms. What each property has in common is a landowner who chooses conservation.

When landowners contact us seeking to donate or sell their land, we first assess whether that land is a good candidate for permanent protection. Some relevant factors include:

the size of the property,
it’s ecological value (for example, if it’s forested or contains headwater streams),
and its proximity to other open space.

If land is being donated to add to one of our existing nature preserves or to become a new preserve, we also require adequate funds to create an endowment so we can continue to care for the land in perpetuity. Sometimes landowners wish to donate an asset property to us with the understanding that we will sell it and use the proceeds to support our work.

Sometimes Natural Lands will purchase land, usually if it is adjacent to our existing nature preserves. In order to do so, we must find public funding to underwrite the purchase.

Please note that we don’t accept every donation or purchase opportunity presented to us.

A snow covered wooden bench in front of a woodlands with snow on the ground

learn more about selling or donating your land

Yes. When you donate land, you can receive a federal income tax deduction for up to the fair market value and pay no capital gains on the transfer if you’ve owned the land for more than a year.

It’s possible to set up this arrangement, which is called a “life estate” or “life tenancy.” There are options that give you the right to use and enjoy the land during your lifetime and also provide tax benefits.

As any property owner knows, owning land (particularly with buildings on it) is an expensive responsibility. And we take our role as perpetual land stewards very seriously.

We will determine an adequate endowment for the long-term care of the land being donated, including paying for Natural Lands’ staff to manage the property. If there are buildings on the land, we will look to see if those can be subdivided off and sold. Sometimes this subdivision and sale can provide the endowment needed for us to accept donation of the land.

Yes. One way we help other organizations acquire open space is by buying it and then “flipping” the land to them. We do this most often for state parks and forests, and for municipalities.