• Appraisal: A report prepared by a professional appraiser that provides an estimate of the fair market value of the property or conservation easement. A “qualified appraisal” is one prepared to substantiate the value of a donated property or easement, and meets Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements.
• Backup holder: A holder, named in the easement, that is empowered to enforce or hold an easement if the original holder is not able to do so.
• Co-holder: A holder that jointly holds title to an easement with another holder.
• Conservation easement: A legal agreement between a landowner and a qualified organization that restricts future activities on the land to protect its conservation values. A conservation easement may be known as a conservation servitude or conservation restriction, depending on state law.
• Conservation easement defense: The holder’s legal defense of the easement dif the landowner legally challenges the easement. The term “defense” is sometimes used interchangeably with “enforcement”.
• Conservation easement stewardship: All aspects of a holder’s management of a conservation easement after its acquisition, including: monitoring; landowner relations; recordkeeping; processing landowner notices, requests for approval and amendments; managing stewardship funds; and enforcement and defense.
• Covenant: A written promise contained in a contract, deed and other form of agreement.
• Deed: A legal document by ownership to land and interests in land are transferred.
• Deed restriction: A restriction in a deed that limits future uses of the property. A deed restriction may be enforced only by the individuals who imposed the restriction (usually the prior owner), or if appurtenant to other land, by all future owners of the land, unless previously terminated by mutual written agreement of all owners.
• Development right: The right to develop a property in accordance with local land use regulations. A development right can be extinguished or relinquished through a conservation easement, or transferred to another property through a statutory transfer of development rights program.
• Endowment: A permanent fund established to support a specific purpose. Generally, the beneficiary can only access income from investment of the fund, and there are restrictions on withdrawing from the endowment’s principal.
• Environmental assessment: The process by which a buyer or donee evaluates whether hazardous substances are present on a property in order to qualify for the “innocent buyer” defense in hazardous waste clean-up law.
• Fair market value: In real estate, the price that a willing buyer would pay a willing seller for a property offered for sale on the open market, when both have reasonable knowledge of all relevant facts and are not under undue pressure to buy or sell.
• Fee simple: Full and unconditional ownership of land, with the right to use and sell during the owner’s lifetime, and then to pass on to one’s heirs.
• Grantee: In real estate deeds, a person or organization that receives a conveyance of property (the buyer, donee, or new holder or owner).
• Grantor: In real estate deeds, a person or organization that makes a conveyance of property (the seller or donor, or previous owner).
• Historic preservation easement: A conservation easement used to preserve the façade, interior, or surroundings of a historic structure. These easements require preservation of the essential character of the building while permitting changes that are necessary to ensure that the building is maintained and remains economically viable over time.
• Holder: A qualified conservation easement recipient (also called a grantee), such as a land trust, government agency, or historic preservation organization.
• Internal Revenue Code §170(h): The section of federal law that sets forth the requirements a conservation easement must meet to qualify for federal income tax deductions. The term for easement gifts that meet these standards is “qualified conservation contributions”.
• Internal Revenue Code §2031(c): The section of federal law that sets forth certain estate tax rules for land subject to a qualified conservation easement.
• IRS Form 8282: The form a donee must file if it resells donated property, including a conservation easement, within two years of its acquisition.
• IRS Form 8283: The form attached to the easement donor’s income tax return when an income tax deduction is claimed for an easement donation valued over $500.
• Land trust: A nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or easement acquisitions, or by engaging in the stewardship of such land or easement.
• Land Trust Standards and Practices: The ethical and technical guidelines for land trusts, issued by the Land Trust Alliance.
• Legal description: A written description of the property boundaries or easement boundaries that is part of the deed.
• Metes and bounds: The boundaries of a property described by bearings (compass directions) and distances measured between clearly identified points on the land.
• Real estate transfer tax: A state or local tax imposed when a property transfers ownership.
• Recording: When a copy of an easement deed is permanently recorded at the county or town office where deeds are filed.
• Title: Evidence of legal ownership to property. Title is transferred by a deed.
• Title insurance: The insurance that protects landowners and easement holders against loss from defective or unmarketable title. Title insurance provides financial compensation if ownership is lost and defends the insured’s title against adverse claims (subject to listed exceptions).
• Title report: A report prepared by a title company or attorney – after a title search – that contains documentation of the quality of ownership held by a particular person or entity. It identifies any encumbrances on the property and any partial ownership interests.

From the Land Trust Alliance publication: The Conservtaion Easement Handbook