Folks at FR sometimes have such a knee-jerk reaction against the green crowd that they fail to recognize that TRUE conservatives do just that -- conserve.
Bottom line -- if the private landowner wants to voluntarily relinquish one of his property rights to a conservation organization (which is NOT necessarily the same thing as an environmental organization), then he is free to do so.
Voluntary, nongovernmental, nonbureaucratic land conservation for future generations -- how can anyone who calls themselves a conservative object to that?
I'm always amazed how some people are able to see complex issues so clearly...it's probably because they have so much experience to draw from.
I truly envy your wisdom and obvious intelligence.