What Is a Conservation Easement Gift?

Mary Gregor earned an undergraduate degree in plant and soil sciences from the University of Maine and has served as a trustee of the Meadows and Mountains Trust since 1993. In this role, Mary Gregor oversees all operations of the trust, including advertising, buying, selling, and working alongside its attorney and surveyor, among others. Gregor has also facilitated the planning and execution of environmental forestry conservation easement gifts from the trust to the Forest Society of Maine.

Easement gifts involve making a legal commitment to help ensure that natural lands are preserved for future generations and benefit plant life, water, soil, and wildlife. This form of legal agreement is voluntary, permanent, and made between a qualified organization and a landowner. Such arrangements typically provide compensation to landowners for restricting the use of the land in order to protect it.

Every type of easement is unique, as each one is customized to the specific characteristics of the land involved and the purposes the agreement seeks to achieve. Some forms of easements limit subdivision development, which in effect helps to protect the nation’s food supply by keeping ranches and farms intact. Other types of easements may enhance wildlife habitats such as wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural areas.

About Mary Gregor, Trustee, Meadows and Mountains Trust

Understanding the importance of environmental preservation, Mary Gregor ensures the protection of Maine’s forests and coastlines. As the person responsible for Meadows and Mountains Trust, Mary Gregor finds the best preservation solutions and growth opportunities for the land. Mary Gregor associates with societies that help keep Maine’s undeveloped areas pristine. Mary Gregor directs growth opportunities for a large amount of land in the state of Maine. As part of her trustee role with Meadows and Mountains Trust, Mary Gregor works with various societies to care for the trust’s natural, undeveloped parts. For her efforts in environmental protection of a lakefront property and a wilderness river, Mary Gregor received an award from The Forest Society of Maine. Mary Gregor develops and provides easement gifts to The Maine Coastal Heritage Trust and The Forest Society of Maine to protect the trust’s property from development. Since 1993, Mary Gregor has saved more than 1200 acres of Maine’s woodlands and coastal areas. Throughout her career, Mary Gregor has been self-employed in real estate investments. Mary Gregor makes decisions on behalf of the Meadows and Mountains Trust in Maine. Working closely with the trust’s surveyor and attorney, Mary Gregor comes across opportunities for land improvement. Trustee Mary Gregor advertises and promotes the Trust’s property. Mary Gregor also buys new portions of property throughout Maine. As a native of Maine, Mary Gregor recognizes the need for the state’s natural habitat zones. Mary Gregor photographs Maine’s wildlife as an amateur photographer and takes frequent walks on her many nature trails. A mother of two and grandmother of two, Mary Gregor enjoys canoeing and fishing with her family at her riverside cabin. Growing up on a local potato farm, Mary Gregor attended The University of Maine and studied Plant and Soil sciences. Combining her real estate expertise and knowledge of nature, Mary Gregor appreciates and respects the opportunities that being trustee of a large portion of Maine’s land gives her.