Protect It or Lose It: Land Conservation
Thank you for renewing your commitment to preserving our rural character. Despite a nor’easter on March 14, 65% of East Kingston voters approved a new $4 million bond to protect open space via conservation easements.
This bond comes 20 years after the first $4M conservation bond was approved by voters in 2003. That bond has conserved 600 acres on 16 properties to date and prevented more than 120 houses from being built in town.
Read why conservation matters: Planning Board vice chair Tim Allen, East Kingston Select Board Chair Joe Cacciatore, Southeast Land Trust (SELT), the East Kingston Conservation Commission, and East Kingston residents Matt Freeman and Gordon Powers.
The conservation bond will also save taxes. How? The tax revenue generated by new houses does not cover the increased costs of schools and town services for those new residents. It's cheaper to conserve land once, than to pay for services forever.
Forty-two percent (42%) of East Kingston land is developable. Conserving land in town will:
- save taxes (single family homes, in contrast, don't pay for themselves and raise taxes),
- help maintain East Kingston's rural character, and
- protect water and wildlife resources.
Studies about Conservation's Impact on Taxes
- Does Open Space Pay? by UNH Extension
- New Hampshire's ROI on Land Investment, by Trust for Public Land (TPL)
- Tax Paper Summary - Does Land Conservation Raise Property Taxes? Evidence from 1400 New England Towns, by researchers from Harvard University, Amherst College and Highstead Foundation, 2022
- Conserve Land, Save Money: Why Development Can be More Expensive than Conservation 1-26-23
View the Presentation 
Resources for Landowners about Conservation and Easements
NHLTC's Conserving Your Land Book
- Protecting Your Legacy: A NH Landowner's Guide to Conservation-based Estate Planning
- SELT's Conservation Resources (Southeast Land Trust of NH)
- The Forest Society's Land Conservation Resources (Society for the Protection of NH Forests)
- Forest Stewardship and Current Use: A Primer (revised 2020)