The Conservation Contributions Of Conservation Easements

Voluntary land conservation, resulting from increasingly alluring tax benefits, has significantly changed the face of land use in the United States and promises to have an even more significant influence in the future. There are more than 1,500 land trusts in the U.S. today, involving millions of acres of land that have been permanently protected by conservation easements. Most of these land trusts depend heavily upon the significant income or estate tax benefits offered by the federal tax code as an incentive for voluntary land conservation. However, only a very small percentage of land trust personnel, landowners or their advisors, or even government officials, fully understand the complexity of the requirements for these tax benefits. This is a comprehensive book on the tax benefits of the charitable contribution, or bargain sale, of a conservation easement. It provides a detailed explanation of the complex and extensive requirements of the federal tax code and related concepts, including the rules governing the operation of tax-exempt organizations such as land trusts. Clearly written, systematic in its coverage, it is intended to be of value for anyone who deals with land trust issues, including land trust staff and trustees, landowners, lawyers, accountants, government officials, and interested lay people. Structured for easy reference, A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements is designed to be used as a resource tool. Related topics are cross-referenced throughout. All principles in the book are illustrated with one or more useful examples. The tax benefits of contributing a conservation easement are unquestionably the heart of voluntary land conservation today. Knowledge of the tax law relating to land trusts and conservation easements is vital to properly establishing and managing land trusts and to insuring the tax deductibility of conservation easements. The future of voluntary land conservation is dependent on a clear understanding of tax policy. Complete, meticulous, and up to date, A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements is an essential handbook.

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The purpose of this audit techniques guide (ATG) is to provide guidance for the examination of charitable contributions of conservation easements. Users of this guide will learn about the general requirements for charitable contributions and additional requirements for contributions of conservation easements. This ATG includes examination techniques and an overview of the valuation of conservation easements. It also includes a discussion of penalties, which may be applicable to taxpayers and others involved in the conservation easement transaction. This guide is not designed to be all-inclusive. It is not a comprehensive training manual on the valuation of conservation easements.... Overview: To be deductible, donated conservation easements must be legally binding, permanent restrictions on the use, modification and development of property such as parks, wetlands, farmland, forest land, scenic areas, historic land or historic structures. The restrictions on the property must be in perpetuity.

Conservation easements have emerged as an important tool for land trusts and government agencies aiming to conserve private land in the United States. Despite the increase in public investment in conservation easement acquisitions, little is known about their conservation outcomes, particularly at a landscape scale. The nine-county San Francisco Bay Area exemplifies a complex conservation context: 190 organizations hold 24% of the land base in some type of protection status. Using a detailed protected lands database, we compared the contributions of conservation easements and fee-simple protected areas to ecological, agricultural, and public recreation benefits. We found that conservation easements were more likely to conserve grasslands, oak woodlands, and agricultural land, whereas fee-simple properties were more likely to conserve chaparral and scrub, redwoods, and urban areas. Conservation easements contributed to open space connectivity but were unlikely to be integrated into local land-use plans or provide public recreation. In particular, properties held by land trusts were less likely to allow for public recreation than were public lands. Conservation easements held by land trusts and special districts complemented fee-simple lands and provided greater conservation of some ecological communities and agricultural lands than fee-simple properties. Spatial databases of protected areas that include conservation easements are necessary for conservation planning and assessment.

The conservation easement is an effective and flexible technique for land preservation. The Conservation Easement in California, written by California attorneys expert in conservation law for The Trust for Public Land, is an authoritative legal handbook for the use of conservation easements in California. This book puts the conservation easement in context, discusses the historical and legal background of the conservation easement in California, its state and federal tax implications and the problems involved in drafting easements. Of special importance is the book's clear exposition of the statutory distinction between conservation and open space easements, which should be especially helpful to land trusts and public agencies at all levels who want to put these innovative techniques into practise.

A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a property owner and a conservation organization, generally a private nonprofit land trust, that restricts the type and amount of development that can be undertaken on that property. Conservation easements protect land for future generations while allowing owners to retain property rights, at the same time providing them with significant tax benefits. Conservation easements are among the fastest growing methods of land preservation in the United States today. Protecting the Land provides a thoughtful examination of land trusts and how they function, and a comprehensive look at the past and future of conservation easements. The book: provides a geographical and historical overview of the role of conservation easements analyzes relevant legislation and its role in achieving community conservation goals examines innovative ways in which conservation easements have been used around the country considers the links between social and economic values and land conservation Contributors, including noted tax attorney and land preservation expert Stephen Small, Colorado's leading land preservation attorney Bill Silberstein, and Maine Coast Heritage Trust's general counsel Karin Marchetti, describe and analyze the present status of easement law. Sharing their unique perspectives, experts including author and professor of geography Jack Wright, Dennis Collins of the Wildlands Conservancy, and Chuck Roe of the Conservation Trust of North Carolina offer case studies that demonstrate the flexibility and diversity of conservation easements. Protecting the Land offers a valuable overview of the history and use of conservation easements and the evolution of easement-enabling legislation for professionals and citizens working with local and national land trusts, legal advisors, planners, public officials, natural resource mangers, policymakers, and students of planning and conservation.

No recent happening in land conservation rivals the rapid expansion of conservation easements and the related growth in the number of land trusts over the past 15 years. Among the forces driving this phenomenon are tax and other public subsidies and the view that the conservation easement is a win-win strategy in land protection. The thesis of this policy focus report is that conservation easements are a valuable land protection tool, complementing regulation, land acquisition, and tax policies, but that reforms are needed in tax and other laws and conventions governing easements, lest we risk losing the public benefits for which the easements were established.