Stites & Harbison, PLLC

Conservation easements have become an increasingly popular legal tool for preserving scenic land, historic sites, and other cultural resources. Perpetual easements donated to qualified organizations offer protection for these privately owned sites and create tax savings for the donors.

As the idea of using easements to protect land has grown, Stites & Harbison has earned a reputation as a go-to firm for major conservation easements in Kentucky and Tennessee. The firm's attorneys have been front-and-center on dozens of major, record-breaking gifts, consulted on complex transactions, and been invited to speak and publish on the sophisticated legal issues surrounding conservation easements.

Our work in Tennessee

In Tennessee, Stites & Harbison has been selected as Counsel to the Land Trust for Tennessee, a nonprofit group formed for the purpose of forever preserving farmland and open and scenic spaces in Tennessee. Working with Stites & Harbison, the Land Trust for Tennessee has accepted easements on more than 8,000 acres of land, including the recent contribution of an easement covering over 1,500 acres in Dickson County, Tennessee, and easements protecting property in Williamson County, one of Tennessee’s fastest growing counties.

Julian Bibb and Bryan Echols frequently write and speak on conservation easements for landowners, attorneys, appraisers, and other professionals interested in supporting this means of  protecting open space for future generations.  Click here to read our Tennessee Conservation Easement Law blog.

Our work in Kentucky

Nowhere has the firm’s capabilities been more evident than with the work the firm’s attorneys have done for River Fields, Inc., a Louisville-area land trust. The firm has drafted or negotiated numerous major easement agreements for River Fields, including the largest gift ever made in Kentucky in terms of donated value.

In 2000, the Henry F. Wallace family granted an easement on its 600-acre cattle farm, situated on the Ohio River several miles northeast of downtown Louisville, to River Fields.  Stites & Harbison’s attorneys prepared the conservation easement agreement, which prevents development or other new construction on the land forever. This easement lowered the reported fair market value of the site by $8.12 million. At the time of its conveyance, the Wallace easement was believed one of the nation’s largest-ever conservation easements. 

The next year, the firm helped River Fields negotiate three gifts in Oldham County, Kentucky, which comprised the largest Oldham County aggregate land area ever protected through conservation easement donations. Stites & Harbison also worked with River Fields on an easement donated by author Sallie Bingham. This easement protects an historic 412-acre site near Louisville and, when donated, was valued at $4.68 million.  In addition, River Fields holds development rights to 23 additional properties in metro Louisville and surrounding counties through conservation easements.  These easements protect more than 2,130 acres of land important to the public, including sensitive wetlands and watersheds, beautiful scenic vistas, wildlife habitats, historical properties and landscapes, and working farms.

The firm has also reviewed numerous easement agreements for Bluegrass Conservancy, a private land trust committed to permanently protecting the natural diversity, scenic open space, rural heritage, and agricultural vitality of Kentucky’s Bluegrass region.  Stites & Harbison’s work with Bluegrass Conservancy has included the conservation easement granted by former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones and his wife, Libby Jones, which protects the 236-acre Aidrie Stud farm in Woodford County, Kentucky.  In 2009, the firm helped Bluegrass Conservancy reach the significant milestone of holding conservation easements on more than 10,000 acres of prime bluegrass farmlands.

Several of the firm's attorneys have written or presented papers on easements or related subjects including Acquiring Land and Conservation Easements, a Land Trust Alliance publication coauthored by former Stites & Harbison attorney Monica Henderson. Robert Griffith presented the topic of “Conservation Easements” for the February 2010 meeting of the Kentucky Land Trusts Coalition. Bruce Reynolds and Stephen M. Ruschell—two of the firm's Lexington-based attorneys—wrote “Conservation Easements and Their Qualifications for Tax Benefits,” which was published in the July 2001 edition of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Bench & Bar.