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t ~ . .,.) ') 8 ',I . ~ '., (..' 1..) - , -;- . the fee and then either reconvey the right for other compatible uses or lease out the land for other purposes. A related problem involves a very considerable difficulty of assessing the value of land and remaining rights for tax purposes. The acquisition by public agencies of a limited right for the public use of privately owned land may be in the form of a lease or occasionally as an easement. This would be in the nature of an affirmative easement. Negative easements such as a scenic easement on land adjacent to land being used for active recreational purposes supplement land held in fee or by lease. In general such easements include the following rights: 1. A restriction of new buildings and structures (or major alterations. ) 2. A prohibition against cutting mature trees and shrubs, but with a proviso authorizing normal maintenance. ;. A prohibition against dumping. 4. A prohibition against billboards. No public right of entry is involved. The inability or difficulty of enforcement of a scenic type easement is its biggest drawback. The National Park Service has had the most exper- ience with this type of easement, and as a result of these difficulties, the Department of the Interior has been moving away from a policy of ac- quiring scenic easements. The acquisition of scenic easements was discon- tinued a number of years ago as a general practice. In recent years the National Park Service has required that all parkway lands be acquired in fee simple, although the door is left open for scenic easements in rare cases. Problems and Recommendations: Before a program is activated to acquire easements or other rights of lands less than a fee interest for the purpose of providing outdoor recrea- tion, the constitutional power of the State agencies to acquire such lesser interests in land should be clearly defined. It should be certain that there is proper statutory authorization for acquiring recreation easements and similar lesser interest, and, if necessary, special enabling legislation should be drawn up. There are technical legal problems "hich may arise in easement law which should be clarified. 1. 'ihether new types of easements can be created or whether the content of easements is a closed category. 2. In the case of appurtenant easements, what will be accepted as a dominant tenement, and whether such an easement can be severed from the dominant tenement. 3. In the case of easements in gross, whether these are or can be made assignable.