Trust fund money available to help save the rural nature of the Avon Hills

Landowners in the Avon Hills have a unique opportunity to voluntarily and permanently protect the biological integrity of their farms and forests under a grant from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Avon Hills includes much of Collegeville and Avon townships west of St. Cloud plus parts of other adjacent townships.

Over $600,000 is available to pay landowners for conservation easements in the Avon Hills during this funding cycle. Saint John's University, in cooperation with the Avon Hills Initiative, is overseeing the effort. Landowners themselves will determine the amount they want to be paid through a sealed bid, but it will be ranked in comparison with all bids received. Landowners have until Dec. 9 to submit their bids and applications.

Conservation easements help preserve open space, biological diversity and the rural character of an area, primarily by restricting development. Landowners with conservation easements can continue to hunt, harvest, recreate and otherwise use their lands under the easement's provisions. Conservation easements are legal documents that are held by the Minnesota Land Trust and are recorded on the landowner's deed.

Landowners use conservation easements to assure that the conservation of their farms or forests continue into perpetuity. They get a tax deduction on state and federal income taxes as well as a direct cash payment (depending on the agreement terms). Landowners submitting applications bid a per acre price for granting a conservation easement. Properties with high environmental benefits plus a lower bid will be the highest ranked while properties with lower environmental benefits combined with a high bid will be the lowest ranked. In 2007, a similar process had bids ranging from $1 to $3,000 per acre, not all of which were funded.

Avon Hills is one of the highest areas of biological diversity in central Minnesota as ranked by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. It has been designated by the Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area, and it considered critical habitat by other environmental organizations including the Nature Conservancy.

For more information about this unique opportunity and see a map of the eligible area, go to the website at http://www.csbsju.edu/outdooru/avonhillsinitiative or contact Tom Kroll, Saint John's University, at 320-363-3126.