The Department, or other government entity, or nonprofit land trust organization acquiring an easement pursuant to this chapter shall monitor, in perpetuity, that easement in order to assess the condition of the resources being protected and to ensure that the terms of the easement are being followed. Entities acquiring easements may also enter into cooperative agreements for monitoring responsibilities with another qualified entity.

The Department shall ensure that any entity acquiring a conservation easement acquired pursuant to this chapter has adequate funding for, or otherwise adequately provides for, easement monitoring pursuant to this chapter, and is able to enforce the easement if its provisions are not satisfied.

Monitoring shall occur no less than once a year and include at a minimum: evaluation of overall condition of the property compared to the condition documented in the Baseline Conditions Report, including a comparison of observed conditions to both the baseline photos and the aerial photos; observations of any violations of terms of the conservation easement; and review of pertinent documentation, e.g., timber harvesting documents, inspection reports, mill receipts, etc.

A written report with a qualitative assessment of compliance with the terms of the conservation easement shall be sent by the monitoring entity to the easement holder within 30 days of visual inspection; any significant differences from the baseline conditions should be noted. The easement holder should immediately address any violation of the conservation easement with the landowner. The landowner should have an opportunity to correct the breach. After a reasonable time period, if the breach is not corrected, enforcement action may be taken, including but not limited to legal action. The entity holding the conservation easement has the responsibility to enforce the conservation easement.