Conservation Law, P.C., Jessica E. Jay, Attorney at Law

DISCLAIMER:  The information provided here is general in nature and should not be relied upon as legal advice. 

 

Conservation Permanence through Legal Practice 

Jessica represents statewide, regional, and local land trusts including Colorado Open Lands, Aspen Valley Land Trust, Estes Valley Land Trust, Rocky Mountain Conservancy, and Palmer Land Conservancy, in their ongoing stewardship and perpetual conservation easement projects. She also represents private landowners conserving farms and ranches, urban and rural wildlife habitat, land for public trails, recreation, and education, historic properties, and scenic open space all over Colorado. She assists public entity-landowners, including the Town of Crested Butte, City of Durango, and Gunnison County, Colorado in the protection of land with perpetual conservation easements and exploration of public access on conserved parcels, including e-bike usage.    

 

Conservation Innovation through Collaboration

In addition to the practical work of assisting landowners and easement holders to protect land through the use of flexible but durable perpetual conservation easements, Jessica also collaborates with the conservation community to innovate for landowners and easement holders regarding conservation tax incentives, stewardship and enforcement mechanisms, and the framework for modification and termination of perpetual conservation easements. She creates and publishes legal guidance for federal and state tax and conservation law, orphaned and neglected conservation easements, agricultural water rights leasing, and mineral rights and extraction on conserved properties. 

 

Conservation Policy and Law Shaping

Jessica’s expertise and perspective, shaped by decades of practice in land conservation law, informs courts, legislatures, regulators, and policymakers in the creation of conservation statutes, policies, and case law.  She is a board member of Keep it Colorado representing conservation professionals, for which she serves the policy, governance, and orphan easement committees. She is on the orphan task force overseeing legal review and design of processes for addressing orphaned and neglected easements and also acts as a liaison to legislative review of and eligibility for conservation tax credits, both of which build on the foundation of Jessica's published guidance on these topics.

Click here to be connected to statutes and cases citing to Jessica's research.  Jessica is a member of the Land Trust Alliance’s Conservation Defense Network, and has both served on and counseled the Land Trust Alliance Conservation Defense Advisory Council, which advises the Alliance on matters involving the enforcement, defense, and permanence of perpetual conservation easements.

2025 Presentations

Keep it Colorado, Spring Summit, Presentations, May 2025

          •To Do List for Sustainable, Perpetual Conservation in Colorado

          •Orphan Easements and Forever Homes

Vermont Law and Graduate School, Summer Session, June 2025

Land Trust Alliance, National Land Trust Rally, Presentations, September 2025