James Hillesheim can relax.

Once anxious about preserving his 61 acres of wooded area and fields of restored prairie grass southwest of Lawrence, Hillesheim has entered into a conservation easement with Kansas Land Trust.

An agreement with Kansas Land Trust gives it stewardship of the property and assures that no matter who owns the land, it will be protected from development.

“I had quite a dilemma,” Hillesheim said. “It was a godsend I discovered Kansas Land Trust.”

About 10 Land Trust board members and neighbors showed up Saturday at Hillesheim’s farm near Clinton for a recognition ceremony and a walking tour of the property.

Hillesheim, 69, professor of teaching and leadership at Kansas University, has owned the property since the late 1970s and has lived on it since 1980. He put some of his acreage into the federal conservation reserve program, which required him to follow certain regulations. In return, he receives a payment not to farm it.

Hillesheim planted six types of prairie grasses to restore the land to its original state.

“It was a challenge to get it started,” Hillesheim said. “The first couple of years you have to really fight the weeds.”

Future owners of the property will have some flexibility in what they do with part of the land, but the prairie grasses will be preserved on at least one of the fields, Kansas Land Trust board members said. The other fields can be used for agricultural purposes as long as it is organic agriculture, they said.

Hillesheim’s property abuts land that surrounds Clinton Lake and is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. That will add to the protection of wildlife habitat in the area.

“Jim has some really fine land here,” said Donna Luckey, president of the Kansas Land Trust board.

Board member and neighbor Bev Worster noted that Hillesheim was able to work with Kansas Land Trust without the assistance of a lawyer.

“That shows that you don’t need an attorney to do this,” she said. “We sat down with him and walked him through it.”

Kansas Land Trust, with its office at 16 E. 13th St. in Lawrence, now has 15 conservation easements in the state. Hillesheim’s property becomes the eighth in Douglas County.

Kansas Land Trust is a nonprofit organization with more than 600 members.