Accelerating the Pace of Conservation

Fiscal Cliff Update

Enhanced Tax Incentive and Charitable Deduction Survive Fiscal Cliff

Congress passed a fiscal cliff deal that renews the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easements 2012 and 2013 and leaves the charitable deduction largely intact for now, but with limits for higher-income donors. Please view our page on the fiscal cliff, or click on a specific issue below:

• Enhanced Easement Incentive -- Renewed for 2012 & 2013! See our Grassroots Toolkit to share the news and say thank you
• Charitable Deduction -- Survives mostly intact, but still at risk
• Estate Tax Incentives -- Credit increased, geographic limits eliminated
• Farm Bill Easement Programs -- Extended for 2013, but failure to pass a 5-year bill threatens conservation
• Conservation Funding -- Automatic cuts delayed for two months

More questions?

• 20 Questions: Conservation and the Fiscal Cliff Deal
• Recording of our Fiscal Cliff Deal Conference Call

About the Alliance's Public Policy Program

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.

Our current public policy priorities are:

1. Creating increased tax incentives for land conservation in both the federal income and estate tax
2. Improving IRS administration of conservation donation rules
3. Maximizing land trusts’ access to conservation funding in the Farm Bill and other federal conservation programs
4. Increasing effective advocacy by land trusts

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

Bryan David

Bryan joined the Alliance as Public Policy Associate in 2012. Bryan supports our work on all policy issues, with a particular focus on cultivating the advocacy capacity of the land trust community and tracking policy relationships. 202-800-2223 |  bdavid@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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