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THE INVISIBLE FOREST: CONSERVATION EASEMENT DATABASES AND THE END OF THE CLANDESTINE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL LANDS JAMES L. OLMSTED* I THE INVISIBLE FOREST For the purposes of this article, the phrase “invisible forest” refers to forest lands—and, for that matter, any other land types—protected by a perpetual conservation easement, the existence and location of which are concealed from the public, whether deliberately or because of the opaque nature of the easement process. This is not to say that conservation easements can be completely hidden from the public. Because easements, like other forms of deeds, must be recorded at the local land registry or recorder’s office, they can never be made undiscoverable. But, despite the efforts of some states and conservation organizations to compile conservation easement data for public consumption, there are few functional systems that comprehensively track and provide easy access to conservation easement data.1 After addressing the question of whether the existence, location, and other information related to conservation easements should be concealed or disclosed to the public through databases, this article provides updates on recent, ambitious efforts to gather, Copyright © 2011 by James L. Olmsted. This article is also available at /journals/lcp. * James L. Olmsted is a conservation easement attorney representing clients nationwide. He is widely published and a frequent speaker on conservation easements and how they should be drafted and managed