|
WHAT 1S IT? Management agreements are sometimes referred to as stewardship agreements, a name that carries with it the idea that the agreement is about the care of land. 265
A management agreement is a contract between the owner of land and another person or organization that will look after the land.
AN EXAMPLE. The stewards live on the land, protecting the land by agreement with the owners ...
Turtle Island Earth Stewards (TIES) owns Linnaea Farm, 315 acres on Cortes Island which includes two ecological reserves. TIES' vision of land trusting includes both the preservation of the land, and fostering community development. So, as the owner, TIES has made a lease agreement with the stewards, who live on the land and farm it. The provisions of a Land Stewardship Trust Agreement include the responsibilities of TIES, whose responsibility is to speak on behalf of the land, the responsibilities of the stewards, who outline how they will steward the land within the ecological guidelines, and a five year lease renewable in perpetuity. The Land Stewardship Trust Agreement also includes provisions for an ongoing consensus decision making process between TIES and the stewards.
POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS. There are two situations where management agreements may be useful. The first is where a private landowner wants to protect land which is environmentally sensitive, but lacks the skills or resources to do so. For example, a farmer whose lands are partly wetlands might agree with Ducks Unlimited Canada to have Ducks Unlimited put a water stoppage device on the land. Ducks Unlimited would drain the land for two months per year to plant and harvest a hay crop.
The second situation is where a conservation organization has acquired a piece of property but does not have the resources itself to manage the land, so contracts with an individual or another group to look after the land. For instance, a conservation organization might acquire a piece of farm property in the Peace River area but not have the expertise to farm the land. It might contract with a local farmer to do the farming.
LEGAL BASIS. A management agreement is a contract between the owner of the land and someone else. The contract does not run with the land, so if the landowner who entered into the contract sells the land to someone else, the purchaser would not be bound by the management agreement. 266 A management agreement can either be between a landowner and a conservation organization that agrees to look after the property, or between a conservation organization that owns the property and an individual or group that will look after it.
HOW IS IT CREATED? A management agreement is formed the way other contracts are formed: by agreement between the parties about who will do what. The contract should be in writing so that there is no confusion about the obligations of each party. 267
In an agreement between a private landowner and a conservation organization such as Ducks Unlimited that will manage the environmental aspects of the land, the terms of the contract might include the following:
When conservation organizations own land they want someone else to maintain, 268 the principle is the same. The landowner, in this case the conservation organization, makes an agreement with someone who will look after the land.
When parties to a management agreement are drawing up the contract, they should think very carefully about the ways in which there may be conflict in the future. Conflict may occur, for example, if an individual will be living on the land and maintaining it. There may be some issues that an owner of the property and a live-in manager disagree about. It is important to be as thorough as is possible in anticipating what those disagreements may be. It is worthwhile to answer as many questions in advance as possible and agree on a dispute resolution procedure. In this situation, the parties may be well advised to choose a dispute resolution mechanism which does not involve going to court. For example, they could agree that someone acceptable to both of them would mediate or arbitrate their differences.
HOW LONG CAN IT LAST? A management agreement can last as long as the parties want, but will not be binding on a purchaser if the landowner sells the land.
WHO MONITORS AND MAINTAINS THE LAND? The responsibilities for looking after the land are set out in the management agreement. Who does what can be as varied as the land, the landowner, and the managing party want.
HOW CAN THE LAND BE PROTECTED OVER TIME? If either party to a contract to look after the land breaches it, the other has the right to sue to recover damages for breach of the contract. This is the traditional legal remedy for breach of contract but, realistically, it is not very effective in the context of conservation of land.
HOW IS IT TERMINATED? The agreement may be for a fixed period of time, in which case it terminates when the agreement says that it does. It also may be terminated by the agreement of the parties to end it. Or, it may be terminated by the parties' noncompliance with the agreement.
265. There is no common agreement about what the term stewardship means. To avoid confusion associated with the word stewardship we will refer to these agreements as management agreements.
266. Sometimes the landowner leases property to the person or body who will care for the land and, if registered, the lease runs with the land. See Chapter 21 on Leases.
267. Although a contract does not have to be in writing to be binding, it is always advisable to write down the terms of the agreement, preferably with the assistance of a lawyer.
268. For example, the Nature Trust of British Columbia>, one of the largest conservancy organizations in the province, will accept land only if there is a body available to maintain it.
