Get Your Representative to Weigh in Personally with Leadership 

At this point, it will take a personal call from your Representative to key leaders of the House to make a difference on the Farm Bill. Just a few calls into the right people at this critical moment could literally change the history of conservation! Please think about who on your board or in your community can best reach your Representative directly and ask them to make such a call.

Ask Democrats to call:

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) or her Chief of Staff, John Lawrence
• House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Ask Republicans to call:

• House Ways & Means Committee Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) 
• House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)

Messages we need your Representative to convey:

• The Tax Incentive for Conservation Easements that Senator Baucus is trying to get into the Farm Bill is very important to landowners and conservationists in my district.
• It is extremely important to get this done in the Farm Bill

See background, frequently asked questions, and resources on the tax incentive.

Eight New Cosponsors for HR 1576; 160 Total

Over the past two weeks the following representatives have cosponsored HR 1576: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN), Rep Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT). That means we now have 160 Members, more than a third of the House, on record supporting a permanent extension of the tax incentive for conservation easement donations!

Please check out our complete list of cosponsors! If your Representative isn't yet on the list, please call and urge them to cosponsor HR 1576. If your Representative is already a cosponsor, please urge them to weigh in with leadership (see above) and thank them publicly or privately using the templates on our tax incentive webpage.

Sign up to be a Land Trust ADVOCATE at: http://www.lta.org/publicpolicy/advocates.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Russ Shay
Director of Public Policy
202-638-4725 x 305
rshay@lta.org

Legislative Victory for Land Conservation

Congress Passes Conservation Tax Incentive for Family Farms and Ranches

May 23, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The hotly debated Farm Bill, which Congress enacted yesterday with an override of the President’s veto, renews a powerful tax incentive which has helped conserve a million or more acres of farms, ranches and natural areas across the US.  The incentive had expired January 1st, but is now retroactive to the beginning of the year and will last through 2009. 

A broad coalition representing sportsmen, outdoors enthusiasts, farmers, ranchers and national conservation groups, embraced the measure.  Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance, said “This renewed tax incentive for donations of conservation easements is one of the best things Congress could do this year to help landowners choose the conservation option over sprawl.  Especially for family farmers and ranchers of modest income, this is a great way to help them keep productive agricultural land from being lost.”

Wentworth gave special credit to Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Dave Camp (R-MI), saying “They are all true conservation leaders who have worked tirelessly to save a conservation measure that has already had benefits in hundreds of communities across the country.”  In conserving land, Wentworth added, “We also are protecting clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat, local food sources, historic landscapes and scenic beauty.”

Senator Baucus, who originated the incentive provision, said “Simply put—this is an incentive that works: for conservation, for farmers, for ranchers, and for all landowners who want a fair deal for their tremendous generosity in donating conservation easements.  Many ranchers and other landowners in Montana and across the US have told me they could not afford to conserve their land without this measure.”

The incentive, which applies to a landowner’s federal income tax, will:

• Raise the deduction a donor can take for donating a voluntary conservation agreement from 30% of their income in any year to 50%;
• Allow farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their income; and
• Increase the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 to 16 years.

Landowner donations to conservation organizations known as land trusts have resulted in millions of acres of working lands and natural areas being conserved for the future.  According to the Alliance, many conservation groups reported an annual doubling of the number of conservation agreements completed in 2007, in response to the same incentive that had expired in January.   Land trusts in America have together saved more than 36 million acres from development, an area the size of New England.

The Alliance also credited the success of the measure to the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector, which has taken the lead in conserving land in recent years.  Said Wentworth, “The fact is that conservation in this country now depends greatly on the generosity of individuals.  It is the individual rancher, farmer or forester, working the land in a way that is conservation-oriented, who will largely define our natural heritage in the future.’

Lead Organizations Supporting the Conservation Tax Incentive

The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America.  It works to  increases the pace and quality of conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats.  This year marks the Alliance’s 25th anniversary.

Contact: Russ Shay
Director of Public Policy
202-638-4725 x 305
rshay@lta.org

Legislative Victory for Land Conservation

Congress Passes Conservation Tax Incentive for Family Farms and Ranches

May 23, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The hotly debated Farm Bill, which Congress enacted yesterday with an override of the President’s veto, renews a powerful tax incentive which has helped conserve a million or more acres of farms, ranches and natural areas across the US.  The incentive had expired January 1st, but is now retroactive to the beginning of the year and will last through 2009. 

A broad coalition representing sportsmen, outdoors enthusiasts, farmers, ranchers and national conservation groups, embraced the measure.  Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance, said “This renewed tax incentive for donations of conservation easements is one of the best things Congress could do this year to help landowners choose the conservation option over sprawl.  Especially for family farmers and ranchers of modest income, this is a great way to help them keep productive agricultural land from being lost.”

Wentworth gave special credit to Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Dave Camp (R-MI), saying “They are all true conservation leaders who have worked tirelessly to save a conservation measure that has already had benefits in hundreds of communities across the country.”  In conserving land, Wentworth added, “We also are protecting clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat, local food sources, historic landscapes and scenic beauty.”

Senator Baucus, who originated the incentive provision, said “Simply put—this is an incentive that works: for conservation, for farmers, for ranchers, and for all landowners who want a fair deal for their tremendous generosity in donating conservation easements.  Many ranchers and other landowners in Montana and across the US have told me they could not afford to conserve their land without this measure.”

The incentive, which applies to a landowner’s federal income tax, will:

• Raise the deduction a donor can take for donating a voluntary conservation agreement from 30% of their income in any year to 50%;
• Allow farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their income; and
• Increase the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 to 16 years.

Landowner donations to conservation organizations known as land trusts have resulted in millions of acres of working lands and natural areas being conserved for the future.  According to the Alliance, many conservation groups reported an annual doubling of the number of conservation agreements completed in 2007, in response to the same incentive that had expired in January.   Land trusts in America have together saved more than 36 million acres from development, an area the size of New England.

The Alliance also credited the success of the measure to the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector, which has taken the lead in conserving land in recent years.  Said Wentworth, “The fact is that conservation in this country now depends greatly on the generosity of individuals.  It is the individual rancher, farmer or forester, working the land in a way that is conservation-oriented, who will largely define our natural heritage in the future.’

Lead Organizations Supporting the Conservation Tax Incentive

The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America.  It works to  increases the pace and quality of conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats.  This year marks the Alliance’s 25th anniversary.

Nonprofit organizations have won an extension of a generous tax incentive for donations of land or historically important property under a law approved by Congress Thursday.

A two-year extension of the so-called conservation easement deduction was included in a bill to protect farmers, which became law Thursday over President Bush’s veto.

Read more

Thank Your Representative If They Signed The Letter!

On February 14, 2008, Congressmen Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Joe Pitts (R-PA) and 62 other Members of the House sent a letter to the House Agriculture Committee urging a permanent extension of the tax incentive for conservation easements in the Farm Bill. Click here for a copy of the letter.

If your Member of Congress appears on the list below, please call and thank them for their support. If they’re listed in red, that means that even though they supported the tax incentive in this letter, they haven’t yet signed on as cosponsors of H.R. 1576, a bill to do exactly what they supported in the letter!   Please ask them to cosponsor HR 1576 too – building that list of cosponsors also helps us demonstrate support for the tax incentive!!

Support the Conservation Programs in the Farm Bill
Your continued support over the next two weeks will be critical to securing the tax incentive and in getting funding increases for critical conservation programs in the Farm Bill! The Senate’s Farm Bill includes a permanent extension of the conservation tax incentive.
Negotiations between the House, the Senate and the President are already underway, so every bit of extra support for making the conservation easement incentive permanent will help. Here are some easy ways you can help:

• TODAY:  Check our list to see if your Representative has cosponsored H.R. 1576, the stand-alone bill to make the easement incentive permanent!  If not, please ask them to do so by calling Elizabeth Thomas in the office of Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA).  If they HAVE cosponsored, thank them – and ask them to please call Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) or Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) of the House Ways & Means Committee and ask them to help ensure that the provisions in the Senate’s Farm Bill that are identical to H.R. 1576 are included in the final Farm Bill.
  
  
• NEXT WEEK is a Congressional recess, so it’s a great opportunity to meet your Members of Congress close to home! Visit their websites at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to find the phone number for the district office closest to you. You can request an in-district meeting or find out if they’ll be at public events where you can meet them. If you can’t get to meet with your Representative, be sure to ask their staff to support the same $5 billion in increased funding for conservation programs as was in the bill the House passed last summer. This includes the House’s higher funding for the Farm and Ranch Protection Program and the Grasslands Reserve Program, both of which give grants to land trusts and states to purchase conservation easements on working farm and ranch land.

Need help?  Want to do even more?  E-mail policy@lta.org.

See background, frequently asked questions, and resources on the tax incentive