Last week at Sullivan County Title, Harve Rhodes, Chairman of the North Central Missouri Regional Water Commission (NCMRWC), and Tricia Burkhardt, Executive Director of the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation (MCHF) finalized agreements to establish a perpetual conservation easement around the Roy Blunt Reservoir (RBR). The conservation easement is established to mitigate for the 1,236 acres of Indiana Bat and Northern Long-eared bat habitat impacted by the construction of the RBR. Under the Endangered Species Act, adverse impacts to the habitat of endangered species warrants compensation. Because of this, the NCMRWC established a 1,644-acre conservation easement. The goals and restrictions within the easement align with the NCMRWC’s plan to preserve clean water.