Accelerating the Pace of Conservation
Highlights
The Easement Incentive Has Expired -- Help Bring it Back!
The enhanced easement incentive expired on December 31, 2011. Bills to make it permanent, H.R. 1964 and S. 339, now have an impressive 299 co-sponsors in the House and we're launching a renewed push to build support in the Senate. Please help us bring the incentive back early this year.
- Read our Frequently Asked Questions regarding the expiring incentive
As the national umbrella organization of 1,700 community-based land trusts, the Land Trust Alliance advocates for public policies that support land trusts’ conservation goals, including increased land conservation funding and improved tax incentives so that more landowners can afford to choose conservation. Such policies have opened the door to voluntary, landowner-led conservation of important wildlife habitat, productive working lands, and scenic open space across the country.
Alliance staff provide a voice for land trusts in halls of Congress, but ultimately the power of the land trust community is the sum of the relationships that individual land trusts have built with their elected officials. Our goal is to provide land trusts the information, tools and inspiration to become a highly effective voices for policies that support private conservation.
For 2011, our public policy priorities are:
- Making the enhanced easement incentive permanent
- Improving IRS administration of conservation donation rules
- Maximizing land trusts’ access to conservation funding in the Farm Bill and other federal conservation programs
- Protecting conserved lands from energy transmission facilities
Use the left navigation bar to explore other important policy issues.
Our Policy Team
Russ Shay
Russ has served as the Alliance’s Director of Public Policy since 1998. Russ directs all aspects of the public policy program and is our lead lobbyist in Washington, DC. He is the primary point of contact for land trusts dealing with IRS audits. 202-800-2230 | rshay@lta.org
Lynne Sherrod
Lynne became the Alliance’s first Western Policy Manager in 2006. Lynne coordinates grasstops mobilization of western land trusts and our coalition partners in the agricultural community. Lynne, herself a rancher on conserved land, also plays a leading role in our work on farm bill conservation programs. 970-487-9924 | lsherrod@lta.org
Sean Robertson
Sean joined the Alliance as Public Policy Specialist in 2008. Sean inspires land trusts to take action through Advocates alerts, trainings, and personal outreach. He also coordinates much of our day-to-day work on tax incentives and federal appropriations. 202-800-2229 | srobertson@lta.org
Support Us
Our ability to effectively take on new policy priorities depends entirely on the support provided by donors to the Land Trust Alliance. Please donate today.
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