The East Mississippi Foothills Land Trust is a local conservation land trust established to provide a way for landowners who have land with scenic,
historic, or cultural value to set aside the property for prosperity. More specifically, land trusts are private non-profit conservation organizations that are qualified to accept voluntary “conservation easements” and hold land in trust at the landowner’s request. Our organization was established in November 2003 and has adopted the Chunky River as our first project. The Chunky has been named a “Scenic Stream” by the State of Mississippi and has great potential as a recreational resource. Our goal is to establish a buffer zone along both sides of the 26-mile stretch of river that is included in the scenic streams program.Conservation Easements are entirely voluntary. The landowner retains ownership of the property and continues use of the property with certain restrictions as agreed upon in the easement. The terms of an easement are flexible and can be tailored to fit the landowner’s requirements. The benefits to the landowners are many. One benefit is the satisfaction of knowing your wishes for your land will be followed after death. In addition, there are property tax advantages that will accrue immediately, and the inheritance taxes can also be reduced. Another benefit is that adjacent property values usually go up as a result of protecting scenic areas. Please review the information we have included concerning the requirements and details of granting easements. We hope to meet with you soon to discuss your possible participation in this effort to protect and preserve a very special part of our area for our children and their children’s use and enjoyment.

Tommy Vincent, President
East Mississippi Foothills Land Trust