Contact: Josh Weiss, Legislative/Legal Affairs Coordinator (360) 902-2226

Situation

The Department purchases restrictions on private land in order to preserve and protect habitat and wildlife resources on that land. These restrictions, known as "conservation easements," leave the underlying land in private ownership but restrict logging and other kinds of development.

Problem

The department must be able to protect the resource values of real property held in the form of a conservation easement. If the Department owned the land outright, Washington law would hold the wrongdoer liable for three times the market value of the timber or other assets taken and impose upon him the costs of litigation as well. While Washington law does define a conservation easement as "real property," it is not clear whether the waste and damage provisions also apply to this form of real property.

Solution

The agency is seeking to amend RCW 4.24.630 so that existing trespass and waste provisions apply to the rights and interests in land that constitute real property as defined in RCW 64.04.130, including conservation easements.

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