Florence, S.C. – Congress recently renewed a tax incentive for private landowners—especially working family farmers and ranchers—who protect their land with a voluntary conservation agreement. The incentive, which had expired at the end of 2009, helped the Pee Dee Land Trust work with willing landowners in our community to conserve almost 12,000 acres of productive agricultural lands and natural areas between 2006 and 2009.
Conservation-minded landowners now have until December 31, 2011 to take advantage of a significant tax deduction for entering into a voluntary conservation agreement to permanently protect important natural or historic resources on their land. When landowners donate a conservation easement to the Pee Dee Land Trust, they maintain ownership and management of their land and can sell or pass the land on to their heirs, subject to the original donor’s protections.
The enhanced incentive applies to a landowner’s federal income tax as follows:
• Raises the deduction a donor can take for donating a voluntary conservation agreement from 30% of their income in any year to 50%;
• Allows qualifying farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their income; and
• Increases the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 to 16 years.
“Our whole community wins when thoughtful landowners conserve their land this way, protecting wildlife habitat, clean drinking water, scenic landscapes, recreational spaces, and productive agricultural lands,” said Jennie Pezé, Executive Director of the Pee Dee Land Trust. “Conservation easement agreements have become an important tool nationally for protecting our watersheds, farms and forests, increasing the pace of private land conservation by a third – to over a million acres a year. The Pee Dee Land Trust joins South Carolina’s 20+ and America’s 1,700+ land trusts and their two million supporters in thanking Congress for making this important conservation tool available,” she said.
In the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina, the incentive is having a real impact. Working in concert with other organizations, the Pee Dee Land Trust is helping knit together communities who are committed to conserving our treasured natural resources.
John Scott, a Florence tax-attorney with Turner Padget Graham & Laney P.A., says, “Although tax incentives and benefits should never be the driving force in a landowner’s creation of a conservation easement, these enhanced benefits can certainly help tip the scales in favor of the landowner using a conservation easement to protect his property. These protections are designed to allow future generations to enjoy the unique benefits of the land. Furthermore, conservation easements are often useful tools for achieving a landowner’s farm succession or estate planning objectives.”
According to the Land Trust Alliance, the national organization that provides a voice for land trusts in Washington, DC, bills to make this incentive permanent have 274 House and 41 Senate co-sponsors from all 50 states, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans in the House. This legislation is supported by more than 60 national agricultural, sportsmen’s, and conservation organizations.
To learn more about the enhanced incentive visit: www.lta.org/easementincentive.
About Pee Dee Land Trust
The Pee Dee Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and its mission is to conserve, and to promote an appreciation of, the significant natural, agricultural, and historical resources of the Pee Dee Region. We work with land owners in Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg counties. If you want to learn more please visit our website: www.peedeelandtrust.org or contact us: P.O. Box 4, Darlington, SC 29540 / 843-661-1135.
