Expiring Tax Incentive Could Have Chilling Effect on Conservation

In spite of recent heat-waves, Congressman Jim Gerlach and local conservationists are worried that land preservation efforts will cool down if an important tax incentive is allowed to expire at the end of the year.

Rep. Gerlach (R-PA) joined conservation groups Friday at a local preserved property to highlight the value of a tax incentive for private land preservation that has been credited with increasing the pace of conservation nationally by a third-to over a million acres a year. However, unless Congress takes action, the incentive will expire at the end of 2013. Rep. Gerlach has recently introduced legislation that would make the incentive permanent.

"Whether you are a farmer looking to preserve land that's been in your family for generations or a local land trust forging community partnerships to protect natural resources, this legislation gives you greater freedom to make critical choices about future land use," Gerlach said. "Our effort to make the conservation easement tax incentive permanent has generated bipartisan support because it makes sense. I look forward to continue working with my colleagues in the House to provide certainty and ensure that conservation easements remain an option for all property owners in the future."

Representatives of several area land trusts including the Brandywine Conservancy, French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Lands Trust, Montgomery County Lands Trust, the national Land Trust Alliance, and the Lebanon Valley Conservancy acknowledged Rep. Gerlach's long-time support for conservation and leadership on the tax incentive. 

"Congressman Gerlach's leadership on the tax incentive legislation for donating conservation easements is critical to protecting our drinking water supplies, farmland, and natural resources - both regionally and nationally," said Sherri Evans-Stanton, Director of the Environmental Management Center at the Brandywine Conservancy. 

The tax incentive makes donations of easements more accessible to landowners of modest means - especially working farmers and ranchers. Specifically, the incentive:

• Raises the maximum deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement from 30% of their adjusted gross income (AGI) in any year to 50%;
• Allows qualified farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their AGI; and
• Increases the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 to 16 years.

"In our experience, landowners want to do the right thing by preserving their land," said Andy Pitz, Executive Director of French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust. "This is evidenced by the fact that well over 80% of our conservation easements have been donations. However, they are giving up a lot of value and may need a little help to make their donation work financially. This legislation will ensure that many more landowners are able to donate conservation easements."

The event took place at Marshlands, the home of Chester County resident, Jim Moore. Moore and his family have donated or partially donated conservation easements on 544 acres that are part of one of the region's most diverse landscapes - The Great Marsh in northern Chester County. It is listed as one of only six sites in Chester County designated as being "the most critical" for natural communities in the 2000 Natural Area Inventory of Chester County. Marshlands also falls within "Important Bird Area" (IBA) #71, as designated by Audubon Pennsylvania. 

"Open space preservation is really about the next generation," noted Jim Moore. "To that end, our family has encouraged young children and college students to explore this remarkable habitat and learn from it just as we have. We preserved this land because we love it and want to share it, not because we could get a tax deduction. However, the tax benefits made the easement donations more feasible for us."

"Aptly named, The Great Marsh is a large freshwater wetland that hosts a diversity of wildlife habitats - a very special place," observed Bill Kunze, Pennsylvania Director for The Nature Conservancy. "By permanently extending the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easements, we can help private landowners protect outstanding ecological treasures like The Great Marsh."

In addition to Marshlands' ecological importance, it provides a valuable farming opportunity for Bill Beam of Elverson who leases a portion of the land from the Moores. Conservation and agriculture are closely linked in southeastern Pennsylvania. Like Mr. Beam, several area farmers lease preserved lands from private landowners and conservation groups. Many others have chosen to preserve their land using conservation or agricultural easements. This includes Milky Way Farm in Uwchlan Township which provided homemade ice cream for Rep. Gerlach and the guests to enjoy.

"This bill makes conservation a real and affordable option for family farmers, ranchers and forest land owners to protect lands that are vitally important to their communities," said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth, the head of a national conservation group representing 1,700 land trusts that have conserved 47 million acres. "We have such a diverse coalition of groups working together on this because saving land helps communities in so many ways."

The bill, H.R. 2807, was introduced Wednesday by Rep. Gerlach and Rep. Mike Thompson of California. For more information about the tax incentive or about donating a conservation easement, contact a local land trust or the Land Trust Alliance. A list of area land trusts is available at www.findalandtrust.org.