By Jocelyn Phares, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy

 A topic we may indirectly see revisited during the 2026 West Virginia legislative session is the regulation of conservation easements. 

Conservation easements are voluntary agreements used by land trusts and other preservation organizations to achieve land protection goals. These agreements allow a landowner to retain the full title of the property, while restricting certain uses to protect the land’s natural resource values. 

Conservation easements are typically done ‘in perpetuity’, or without an end date, to protect the land for as long as possible. However, during the 2025 West Virginia legislative session, proposed HB3294 sought to restrict any agreement which limits the use of natural resources to a term of 20 years.

The purpose of conservation easements is to protect the land for the landowner for as long as they see fit.

Limiting conservation easements to terms of a definite length is an infringement on the landowner’s ability to do as they want with their own property. 

As we enter the 2026 legislative session, the effects of the ‘bill that never was’, HB324, are still being felt across the state. In particular, as the state catches the eye of new industries like data centers, limiting conservation easements may appeal to some. 

It is important to remember why conservation easements exist, how they serve landowners and most importantly, how they serve West Virginia.