Land Trust Alliance Supports Broader Tax Incentives for Land Conservation

4/30/2002

From: Russ Shay of the Land Trust Alliance, 202-638-4725

WASHINGTON, April 30 -- Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth, testifying before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Ways and Means Committee, strongly endorsed legislation to enhance the tax benefits of land conservation.

"The incentives already in place in our tax code have been major contributors to the work land trusts have done," noted Wentworth. "But with two million acres of land being developed each year, we need to accelerate the pace of conservation if we hope to keep pace and succeed in protecting a heritage of land for our children."

LTA specifically supported:

-- H.R. 1309, introduced by Rep. Nancy Johnson, which would increase the percentage of a donor's adjusted gross income (AGI) that can be deducted in any one year, and increase the number of years in which a landowner can continue to take a deduction after their gift.

-- H.R. 2290, introduced by Rep. Rob Portman, which would exclude from federal tax half of a landowner's gain on the sale of a conservation easement or land to a government conservation agency or to a private, nonprofit land trust.

-- H.R. 1711, introduced by Rep. Jennifer Dunn, which would allow the use of tax-exempt bonds for conservation deals, such as the recently announced option to purchase of 104,000 acres of timberland near Seattle.

-- H.R. 2279, introduced by Rep. Joel Hefley, which would allow farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of their AGI for donating a conservation easement.

"Currently, the deduction allowed for a contribution of appreciated property to charity is limited to no more than 30 percent of a taxpayer's AGI and can be rolled forward for no more than six years," Wentworth noted. "A rancher earning $50,000 a year may own land with development rights worth $500,000, or $1 million, or more. Yet, because of the rancher's lower income, the current rules dictate that the most they could deduct is $90,000, no matter how valuable the gift."

The Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average income of a farmer or rancher is about $34,000 a year.

"We applaud Representative Johnson for introducing legislation to update the incentives for landowners to donate land or a conservation easement on land, to protect that land for the future," Wentworth said. "I have been asked by 50 Connecticut land trusts to give Mrs. Johnson letters of support for her legislation. The changes she has proposed would enable them -- and land trusts across the country -- to help their communities protect open space and farmland that is more valuable with every passing day.

"The tax incentives in H.R. 1309, H.R. 2290, H.R.1711 and H.R. 2279 will produce tangible, visible, permanent results," Wentworth concluded. "We will need these tools if we wish to protect the best of the American landscape for our children."

------ The Land Trust Alliance, founded in 1982, is the nation's leading organization for nonprofit land trusts and promotes voluntary land conservation across the country. With its headquarters in Washington, D.C., LTA has regional offices in Durham, N.C., Grand Junction, Colo., Portage, Mich., Sacramento, Calif., Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Seattle, Wash., and Wilmington, Del.