Conservation Ownership

An Ownership agreement is another type of formal conservation agreement. The term ownership is used here to describe situations in which fee-simple interests in lands or resources are transferred from one party to another. When ownership is transferred, some form of deed is typically used to document the transfer while the agreement itself often takes the form of a purchase and sales agreement.

Proprietary Nature

Fee-simple ownership of lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters is often different than fee-simple ownership of terrestrial lands and resources. The bundle of sticks (a phrase commonly used to describe the nature and extent of rights) acquired in ocean and coastal waters is frequently less than the bundle of sticks acquired in terrestrial areas. This is because there are often public or community rights (such as fishing, fowling, and navigation) that are reserved from the transfer of rights in ocean and coastal areas. Given this, it is essential to understand what rights and interests are explicitly included and excluded from the transfer. It is also essential to understand whether the ownership of some rights and interests remains unclear.

Image courtesy The Nature Conservancy California

Parties

In general, fee-simple ownership of publicly-owned lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters within the United States cannot be acquired by private entities. However, there are always exceptions both within and outside of the United States. For example, it was common in many states in the past for these areas to be sold to private entities and fee-simple sales still occasionally happen today. Given this, while it may not be likely that private entities can acquire fee-simple ownership from public entities, it should not be ruled out until project-specific circumstances are adequately assessed. In most cases, however, private conservation organizations will be working with private parties who already own these areas when negotiating ownership agreements.

Enforcement Mechanisms

Ownership agreements are legally binding documents which can be upheld in civil court or through agreed upon arbitration processes.

Terms

The terms (or durations) of ownership agreements are typically in perpetuity.