The Enhanced Easement Incentive

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Conservation Champions Reintroduce Tax Incentive Bill

Our top legislative priority this year is to prevent the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easement donations from expiring on December 31! That’s less than 200 days to save an incentive that has increased the pace of conservation by a third nationwide.

Please ask your representative and both senators to co-sponsor new legislation in the 113th Congress to make the easement incentive permanent:

• Urge your legislators to co-sponsor today
• Get fact sheets and new letters of support
• Check the latest co-sponsor list

A Critical Conservation Tool with Broad, Bipartisan Support

The enhanced tax deduction for conservation easement donations has helped America’s land trusts work with farmers, ranchers and other modest-income landowners to increase the pace of conservation by a third to over a million acres a year!  An extension of the incentive through 2013 will help more landowners receive tax benefits from the generous donation of development rights on their land.

Bills to make the incentive permanent in the 112th Congress, S. 339 and H.R. 1964, were championed by the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees and had an impressive 311 co-sponsors in the House, including majorities of both parties.

Support Bills to Make the Incentive Permanent

You can take action today by calling the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking your Members of Congress to co-sponsor:

• Representatives can join Reps. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) as original co-sponsors of the Conservation Easement Incentive Act by contacting Lori Prater in Congressman Gerlach’s office (5-4315).
• Senators can join Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) as co-sponsors of the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act, S. 526, by contacting Tiffany Smith or Preston Rutledge at the Senate Finance Committee (4-4515).

Please be sure to thank last year's co-sponsors when asking for their renewed support.

• How You Can Help: Fact Sheets, Templates and Advice
• List of co-sponsors in the 113th Congress
• Letters of Support for the Conservation Tax Incentive
• Conservation Tax Incentive Media Coverage and Success Stories
• View a detailed co-sponsor map

How the Incentive Works

Thanks to the hard work of Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), along with land trusts and coalition partners around the country, on August 3, 2006 the Congress approved a tremendous expansion of the federal tax incentive for conservation easement donations

• Conservation Incentive and Solid Tax Reform
• Current Status and Future Prospects
• A Diverse National Coalition
• Frequently Asked Questions about the Enhanced Incentive

For more information about the easement incentive, please contact Sean Robertson at 202-800-2229, or e-mail policy@lta.org.