Conservation easements may be created and changed like other easements, but they must be voluntary and recorded/accepted before rights or duties arise.
33-272 - Creation, conveyance, acceptance and duration; impairment; recording; county assessor; valuation 33-272. Creation, conveyance, acceptance and duration; impairment; recording; county assessor; valuation A. Except as otherwise provided in this article, a conservation easement may be created, conveyed, recorded, assigned, released, modified, terminated or otherwise altered or affected in the same manner as other easements. For the purposes of this article, conservation easements shall be voluntarily created and shall not be required by a political subdivision or governmental entity. This article neither limits nor enlarges the power or purposes of eminent domain, zoning, subdivision regulations or any right of condemnation under the laws of this state. Any assignment, release, modification, termination or other document altering or affecting a conservation easement need only be executed or approved in writing by the current owner of the real property that is burdened by the conservation easement, the holder of the conservation easement and any governmental body, charitable corporation or trustee of a charitable trust having a third-party right of enforcement. B. No right or duty in favor of or against a holder and no right in favor of a governmental body, charitable corporation or trustee of a charitable trust having a third-party right of enforcement arises under a conservation easement before its acceptance by the holder and a recordation of the acceptance. C. Except as provided in section 33-273, subsection B, a conservation easement is unlimited in duration unless the instrument creating it otherwise provides. D. An interest in real property in existence at the time the conservation easement is created is not impaired by a conservation easement unless the owner of the interest is a party to the conservation easement or consents in writing to the conservation easement by an instrument acknowledged and recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the affected real property is located. E. The holder of the conservation easement shall provide for the recording of the conservation easement and the recording of its acceptance. The holder of the conservation easement also shall prepare and provide the information prescribed by section 42-12058 to the county assessor for each county in which any portion of the real property that is burdened by the conservation easement is located. F. For the purposes of determining the full cash value of a conservation easement created pursuant to this section, the department of revenue or a county assessor shall use and apply standard appraisal practices and techniques unless a statutory formula takes precedence.