The firm’s lawyers have a national reputation for expertise in conservation easements and land conservation law.  Counsel is provided to land owners, land trusts and other conservation organizations, and federal, state, county and municipal wildlife and open space agencies.  Firm lawyers have over thirty years experience counseling clients regarding conservation easements and other conservation transactions and techniques. 

Conservation easements have become an essential part of the land use lawyer’s tool box, enabling clients to meet land preservation and open space goals, obtain tax benefits – including marketable tax credits in some states – and develop partnerships with neighboring landowners.   The firm’s lawyers have counseled clients on the use of conservation easements in numerous cases, using them as one component to facilitate a multi-party land exchange and to close a real estate transaction with both preservation and development aspects.  Owners of land under conservation easement, particularly working ranches, have turned to firm lawyers for assistance in maintaining the preserved lands intact from competing land uses and assertions of conflicting rights (for example, claimed access rights through lands under conservation easement).

Lawyers at Kaplan Kirsch and Rockwell have been involved in hundreds of conservation easement transactions, resulting in protection of hundreds of thousands of acres.  Their experience is both broad and deep, including service on the board of directors of the Land Trust Alliance, and as counsel to state and local trust coalitions, state and local land trusts, and as founding counsel to the country’s first producer-based agricultural land trusts.

The firm’s lawyers have experience with conservation easement related legislation, and have authored legislation pertaining to conservation easements and property tax, conservation easements, water rights and state tax credits.

The firm’s lawyers represent tax payers in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities pertaining to conservation easements.  Representation is also provided to land owners and conservation easement holders concerning interpretation and violations of conservation easements.

In 2004, firm lawyers represented the Forbes Trinchera Ranch in the conveyance of a conservation easement over 80,000 acres, the largest in Colorado.



Representation of landowners and land trusts in hundreds of conservation easement transactions, including:

  • Conservation easement sales for various families in the $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 range
  • Conservation easement donations for myriad landowners
  • Acquisition of 137,000 acre national park quality rural recreation land in Las Animas County, Colorado
  • Acquisition of many rural recreational properties and working ranches throughout Colorado in the 1,000-10,000 acre range

Limited Development Projects:

  • Pine Cliff and Allis Ranch in Douglas County, Colorado
  • Wohl Coleman Ranch in Park County, Colorado
  • Evans Ranch in Clear Creek County, Colorado, one of the nation's first and leading limited development projects

Land Trust Counsel:

  • Founding counsel for various statewide land trusts and land trust coalitions
  • Principal drafter of original Colorado Conservation Easement Tax Credit Legislation (2000)
  • Participant drafter of every amendment to the Colorado Conservation Easement Tax Credit Legislation (2001-2011)
  • Counsel to many national, state and local land trusts