FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Has this been done before?

Yes. The pilot project for this program was completed in August of 2023 for a small parcel of forestland located in north-central Washington State. The title holder for that land was a family trust who wanted the forest ecosystems and water to own themselves, and they worked with the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (one of the Sacred Contract coalition groups) to (1) create a “rights of nature” conservation easement that recognized the legal rights of the forest, (2) establish a legal entity of which the members of that entity were the ecosystems on the parcel of Land, (3) establish guardians for those ecosystems, and (4) transfer the title to the land to the legal entity comprising the ecosystems on that Land. An exemption from property tax was approved by the State of Washington in September, 2023. There are several other Land emancipation projects currently in process.

How long does this process take?

For the initial pilot project, preparation and signing of the conservation easement took three months; creation of the legal entity composed of ecosystems and selection of ecosystem guardians for those ecosystems took a month; obtaining of tax-exempt status from the federal government for the legal entity took a month; and transfer and recording of the land took a month. While timing is mostly dependent on the two most time-intensive parts of the process, the drafting of the easement and the selection and appointment of guardians, it is envisioned that future Sacred Contract projects will take between four and six months.

It should be noted that this timeline is solely for the legal and organizational work that must occur; there will also be other time considerations, including the training of guardians on their respective roles and a plan for restoration of the land, all of which must be informed by preceding research into the history of the Land.

How much will the process cost?

For the title holder, there will be a significant amount of time required, mostly around the easement process, which will require the existing title holder to help to draft the easement that will apply to the Land. In addition to the expenditure of time, an independent legal review of the easement will be required, and the title holder will be required to pay for that review, as Sacred Contract cannot legally pay for an independent legal review. The cost of that legal review will range from $500 to $3,000, dependent upon the lawyer or law firm that does the review. All other costs for the project will be provided by Sacred Contract, which has obtained grants to pay for those costs.

Who will the guardians be?

The guardians will be local individuals who have knowledge of the Land. For a temporary period, guardians may be individuals associated with Sacred Contract who can serve in that capacity until local guardians are appointed. The local guardians will be knowledge holders from Indigenous nations and/or communities, scientific researchers, and representatives from marginalized communities whose voices have been systematically excluded from conversations regarding Land. It is envisioned that the title holder will assist with the selection of guardians, and that the title holder may become one of the guardians.

While the local guardians are selected, an Interim Guardianship Council, composed of knowledge holders, and skilled facilitators, will serve as an intermediary guardianship body. This council will serve all Sacred Contract Land projects and step in if a local guardianship body needs additional support and/or members. Thus, the Interim Guardianship Council will ensure the perpetuity of protection.

How do you ensure the protection of Land?

One of the reasons to complete the conservation easement process prior to the actual title transfer is to guarantee that certain protections for the land are built into both processes. The conservation easement for the land will be donated to a land trust, which will have legal responsibility to enforce the protections contained within the easement; while the ecosystems-based legal entity to which the land transfers will contain additional protections for protection of the land. Through this layered approach, Land will have the largest number of protectors enforcing the most stringent of protective standards.

Will I be liable if something happens on the Land?

No, after the title to the land officially transfers to the legal entity representing the Land, the original title holder will not be liable for anything that occurs on the land after that transfer. However, if there are environmental issues that were not disclosed at the time of the transfer, the original title holder may have continuing responsibility for those issues.

Why is this better than other ways to protect Land?

Sacred Contract has created a short zoom video that explains why this option is better than other ways to preserve and protect Land. In summary, other methods of preserving Land - from donating the land directly to a land conservancy or land trust, to doing a traditional conservation easement – all continue to treat nature as a commodity and as property. Sacred Contract’s process is about creating self-ownership for the ecosystems that exist on the Land and for the land itself, rejecting the doctrine that land is property. In addition, recognizing “rights of nature” in the conservation easement, in addition to standard provisions barring development of the Land, offers added benefits, including being able to enforce those rights on adjacent Land and having additional parties be able to enforce those rights.