Frequently Asked Questions

On Land Trusts

What is a land trust?

A land trust is a private nonprofit organization that preserves land. Butters Canyon Conservancy focuses on the Peralta Creek watershed in Oakland, CA, to preserve native habitat and allow generations of people to continue to enjoy it as green space.

How does a land trust preserve land?

The two most common methods are through acquiring title to land through donation or purchase and through acquiring conservation easements through donation or purchase.

What is a conservation easement?

It’s a legally binding agreement between a landowner and a land trust to protect natural resources. The agreement might include some restrictions on land use, such as that certain parts of the property will not be developed, in return for certain tax benefits for the landowner. The conservation easement is written into the title of the land.

What are the tax benefits of conservation easements?

When a conservation easement is in place, the value of property decreases because its development potential has gone down. If the landowner has donated the conservation easement to a nonprofit land trust, the difference between the value of the land before and after the easement represents a charitable donation and is treated that way on the landowner’s income tax return. In addition, the decreased value of the land represents decreased estate taxes for the landowner’s heirs. Some property tax benefits may also be available.

Are there other land trusts?

Over 1200 land trusts are currently operating in the U.S., and nearly a hundred new ones are being formed each year. For more information on land trusts, check out the Land Trust Alliance in Washington, DC, and the Trust for Public Land in San Francisco. Butters Canyon Conservancy receives educational materials and advice from both organizations.

Who Benefits?

Who benefits from preserving Butters Canyon?

People and the environment throughout the Bay Area. The canyon provides a quiet place to encounter nature for dozens of daily pedestrians in the neighborhood and dozens more bicyclists from every community in the Bay Area. In addition, the creekside ecosystem that it represents helps to provide biodiversity for the entire city of Oakland, and its above-ground seasonal creek and riparian corridor (creekside ecosystem) provide the city one of its last remaining riparian ecosystems within city limits.

Why is Butters Canyon important?

Butters Canyon is the headwaters of Peralta Creek, so it is important as a riparian corridor (a creekside ecosystem). It is also important as a public recreation area, since it is a stretch of creekside land that is used daily by pedestrians and cyclists from around the Bay Area.

Isn’t this NIMBYism? Aren’t you just protecting your own backyards?

The area we seek to protect is in our neighborhood, but preserving it benefits more than our neighborhood. It is a thriving riparian and wildlife corridor, and if we lose it, we lose a historic landscape in Oakland, one of the last remaining above-ground creeks and canyons. We preserve it in order to protect water quality in the Peralta Creek watershed and the San Francisco Bay as well as provide a recreation corridor for cyclists and pedestrians, a place to encounter nature in a green urban getaway.

About Property Rights and Development

Is the land trust against development?

Butters Canyon Conservancy, as a nonprofit, does not take a position on development. We are not a political organization, and we do not lobby the city or other governments regarding development issues.

Are you trying to take away people’s right to improve their properties?

No. Land trusts do not engage in “takings.” They recognize the right of landowners to develop their properties to the fullest extent provided by law. On environmentally sensitive properties, the landowner and land trust may work out an agreement, like a conservation easement, that benefits both the landowner and the environment.

Isn’t there a less expensive way to preserve land than purchasing it?

Land trusts are always happy to receive donations of land. However, purchase is often necessary to ensure that environmentally sensitive lands will be preserved. Holding title to land ensures the right to decide how the land will be used. Acquiring a conservation easement on land gives a land trust the rights to use the land in the ways specified in the easement.

About Land Use

What will happen to the properties purchased by Butters Canyon Conservancy?

Acting in conjunction with the City of Oakland, Butters Canyon Conservancy has preseved the properties under its protection as open space. The properties owned by Butters Canyon Conservancy will be held in perpetuity, or until a public agency, like the City, chooses to purchase or receive title to them as open space.

Who makes decisions about land use?

Butters Canyon Conservancy is governed by a board of directors that meets monthly. The board welcomes input on the use of the land, and all comments and questions should be directed to board members.

About Creeks and Riparian Corridors

Why does the land trust focus on creekside properties?

Creeks are natural arteries of green space and wildlife. These arteries are called “riparian corridors,” which means riverside ecosystems. In Oakland riparian corridors are one of the few places where native landscape can still be found.

Why is native landscape important?

It is the only way to preserve species diversity. California native plants tend to grow in concert with many other species of native plants, whereas non-native invasive vegetation tends to grow and thrive homogeneously. A diversity of plant species will support a diversity of native animal species, from insects to mammals, whereas non-native species support few to no native animal species. Finally, a native landscape is also important in order to preserve our natural heritage. See a list of plants native to Oakland’s creeks.

Why is species diversity important?

A healthy ecosystem includes a huge variety of plants and animals—butterflies, birds, mammals, insects, frogs, fish etc. When habitat is taken away—when creeks are culverted and paved over—birds and animals lose nesting ground. Then a community enjoys fewer songbirds, fewer amphibians, and fewer types of mammals. The opportunistic ones take over—the ones that can live off human castaways—and that’s why in cities where much of the ground is paved over you often see only raccoons and ravens and European species like pigeons.

Doesn’t the city creek protection ordinance protect creekside property?

The City of Oakland Creek Protection Ordinance does not set absolute limits on the kind of construction to be done near creeks, but it does require a permit fee and sets guidelines for taking care of creeks in the process of construction. The ordinance is also being challenged by some, and it is not at all certain its measures will continue to be advocated by the city. Questions about the City’s Creek Protection Ordinance can be directed to the city staffperson at the Clean Water and Creek Information number, 238-6600.

Supporting Butters Canyon Conservancy

Where does Butters Canyon Conservancy get money to preserve land?

Most of our support comes from individual donations. We also apply to public agencies and private and corporate foundations for grants. But since the area we focus on is very small, local contributions from the neighborhood are the most important source of funds.

Is my donation tax deductible?

Yes, all donations made to Butters Canyon Conservancy are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Butters Canyon Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) exempt organization.

How do I donate to the Conservancy?

You can donate online or by mail. See donation options.