Keeping the Community Preservation Act Promise

“Editorial: Keeping the CPA Promise”
The MetroWest Daily News, July 12, 2008

An editorial in The MetroWest Daily News reflects on Massachusetts’ decrease in matching local Community Preservation Act funds. For the last seven years, local funds were matched by the state on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Now, in fiscal year 2009, the state match will fall to about 70 cents per local dollar and the Community Preservation Coalition estimates the state match could fall to about 36 cents per local dollar in 2010. A legislative bill has been introduced to ensure that the state match will be at least 70 cents per local dollar.

Since its inception in 2000, the Community Preservation Act has generated more than $100 million for open space aquisitions in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Will Decrease Matching Funds for Open Space

“State Will Decrease Matching Funds Open Space Funds”
The Stoughton Journal, July 10, 2008
By Christine Steele

Christine Steele reports that Massachusetts will decrease state Community Preservation Act matching funds to local communities starting with fiscal year 2009, which began this month. The decrease in matching funding was forecast a year ago and a further decrease is predicted for 2010. The Community Preservation Act seeks to preserve open space, historic buildings and create affordable housing for communities by allowing them to levy a 1% to 3% surcharge on property taxes.

Conservation Provisions in the Federal Farm Bill

Following passage of the conservation-friendly federal Farm Bill on May 22, 2008, the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition has posted on its website a neat nine-page Summary of Farm Bill Conservation Provisions.

Written by Cris Coffin, New England States Director for the American Farmland Trust, the summary "is based on final legislative language enacted by Congress over the President’s veto and accompanying conference report language. Please note: this summary does not include all conservation provisions in the 2008 Farm Bill, only those of likely interest to land trusts in MA!”

For more information about the 2008 Farm Bill, please visit the Federal Tax Incentives section of the Land Trust Alliance's website.

Chatham Conservation Foundation’s Bulletin for Spring/Summer 2008

The Chatham Conservation Foundation has published its Spring/Summer 2008 Bulletin. Contents include:

•  The New Federal Farm Bill and Conservation Restrictions
•  Recent Land Acquisitions and Gifts
•  The Chatham Railroad Company
•  Joseph A Nickerson, Jr., Remembered

Founded in 1962, the Chatham Conservation Foundation has protected nearly 650 acres of open space. The Foundation’s 2008 Annual Meeting will be held August 4, 2008, at the Wequassett Inn, Chatham.

Brewster Conservation Trust Grows Its Community Garden

“Brewster Garden Grows New Crop of Gardeners”
The Cape Codder, June 20, 2008

The Cape Codder reports that the Brewster Conservation Trust has expanded its Community Garden off Lower Road, eliminating the waiting list of would-be-gardeners.

Established in 1983, the non-profit Brewster Conservation Trust has protected more than 584 acres of land. It is just one of the scores of environmental organizations urging the Massachusetts state legislature to pass the pending Environmental Bond Bill before the legislative session ends on July 31, 2008.

State Environmental Bond Bill Needs Your Help !

Earlier in the week, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod issued an email action alert about the pending Massachusetts state Environmental Bond Bill. The Association and other conservation and environmental organizations across the entire state need your support in convincing the Massachusetts state legislature to pass the bill before the legislative session ends on July 31, 2008.

The bill is important because it will fund vital state environmental programs over the next five years, such as those protecting open space, restoring rivers and streams, and improving state parks.

To learn more about this critical piece of legislation and how you can easily contact your Massachusetts state legislators to voice your support, please visit the website of the Coalition for the Environmental Bond.

June E-News of the Mass Land Trust Coalition

The June 7, 2008, E-News of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition is available at the Coalition’s website. Designed for the entire state land conservation community, content includes:

•  New “Land & Water” state license plate funds land protection
•  U.S. Congress renews conservation tax incentive
•  Register for Land Trust Alliance’s Rally 2008 in Pittsburgh
•  Job Opportunities
•  A Guide to Invasive Plants in Massachusetts reprinted

The Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition is “the association of nearly 150 organizations dedicated to increasing the conservation impact of Massachusetts land trusts. The coalition plays a crucial role in advancing key conservation legislation, improving communication and collaboration with state environmental agencies, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information, and serving as an important networking resource for the state's land trust community.”

We note that Mark H. Robinson, Executive Director of The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, is currently serving a term as Treasurer of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition.

Positive Movement on Massachusetts State Environmental Bond Bill

The Coalition for the Environmental Bond announced in an email alert earlier in the week that the Massachusetts state legislature's “Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets released the Environmental Bond Bill today [June 12, 2008]. ... This is an important and positive step forward but is only one of several steps the bill needs to take before it reaches the Governor’s desk for his signature ... The next step the Environmental Bond takes is down the hall to the Ways and Means Committees (House and Senate) and approval by both branches. ... The end of the legislative session is July 31 – a few short weeks away. Speedy passage by the committees is imperative if we are going to see the Bond pass and not lose an entire season of work. ..."

Supporters of the $750 million state Environmental Bond Bill include:

•  Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Brewster Conservation Trust, Dennis Conservation Trust, Nantucket Land Council, Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, Sconset Trust, Tuckernuck Land Trust, Wellfleet Conservation Trust, Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts, The Trustees of Reservations, The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land

•  Coalition for Buzzards Bay, Friends of Pleasant Bay, Three Bays Preservation

•  Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod, Mass Audubon

•  Chatham Conservation Commission, Edgartown Conservation Commission, Falmouth Conservation Commission, Sandwich Conservation Commission

State Priority Habitat Review Raises Bar for Landowners on the Vineyard

“Priority Habitat Review Raises Bar for Landowners”
The Martha’s Vineyard Times, June 5, 2008
By Nelson Sigelman

MARTHA’S VINEYARD -- The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) exists within the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. It is a small agency with a powerful regulatory reach.

Natural Heritage is responsible for the regulatory protection of rare species and their habitats and derives its authority from the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) enacted in December 1990. Revisions to the law approved in 2005 strengthened the agency's review authority ...

For the most part, conservation agencies and environmental service businesses that regularly deal with state agencies are aware of the changes in the regulatory landscape. Many private property owners are not. ... ©

Read the full article in The Martha’s Vineyard Times.

State Land Conservation Legislative Action Alert

The Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition has issued a legislative action alert to remind conservationists and the public about two critical land conservation bills that are pending in the Massachusetts state legislature:

•  Public Lands Preservation Act (Bill # S. 2388). Also known "No Net Loss of Article 97 Lands,” this bill would “stem the loss of parks, playgrounds, conservation land, watersheds, and other public natural resource lands by requiring that land proposed to be converted from Article 97 be thoroughly reviewed and replacement land required.” Note that this bill is supported by more than 100 organizations, including the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Barnstable Land Trust, Brewster Conservation Commission, and Provincetown Conservation Commission.

•  Conservation Incentives Act (Bill # H.799). This bill would “give new financial incentives for property owners to conserve their land, enabling private and public conservation partners to make financially attractive offers on top priority preservation sites.”

Passage of these two legislative bills is among the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition’s top priorities and the action alert contains a “Sample Letter of Support” that you can use to contact your state representative in support of these measures.

For more information, please read the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition’s action alert.

A Brief History of Conservation Easements

Conservation easements were initially used in Massachusetts in the late 19th century by the Trustees of Reservations to protect the parks that Frederick Law Olmsted designed around Boston. In 1959, William H. Whyte wrote the first major work on conservation easements. Conservation easements began to grow in popularity in the late 1970s, in part because of the use of conservation easements to preserve farmland in Suffolk County, NY, and throughout Maryland and Massachusetts.

In the late 1970s, attorney Stephen Small drafted the federal income tax regulations on conservation easements that became the Federal Tax Treatment Extension Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-541). Section 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code clarified the federal income and estate tax benefits to individuals and families for donating conservation easements. Key among the provisions of Section 170(h) are a public benefits test and proof that significant conservation values are being protected through a conservation easement.

Small recognized that increases in real estate values were creating estate tax problems, making it difficult for families to transfer land from one generation to the next. The donation of a conservation easement could not only produce income tax benefits, but estate tax savings as well, thus enabling a family to hold onto their land, rather than have to sell it for development to pay federal estate taxes. Later, when more public and private funding for purchasing conservation easements became available, many easements were acquired through “bargain sales” featuring part cash and part donation. Bargain sales increased the relevance of the public benefit and significant conservation values tests under Section 170(h). By contrast, the purchase of a conservation easement for full appraised value does not have to meet the requirements of Section 170(h), even though it should as a matter of good practice.

In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration reduced funding for federal land acquisition programs, such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund. In response, there was a sharp increase in the number of private nonprofit land trusts. The land trust movement also grew as a result of frustrations with the rapid pace of development in many communities and the ineffectiveness of local planning efforts to protect wildlife habitat, important landscapes, and water resources. Between 1980 and 2003, the number of land trusts rose nearly fourfold from about 400 to 1,526. Prior to 1980, the large majority of land trusts were found in the Northeast where there was little government-owned land. Since 1980, land trusts have proliferated throughout the United States, and there is at least one land trust in every state.

A primary strength of conservation easements is that they provide greater permanence in the landscape and hence greater protection for wildlife habitat than land use regulations. Regulations can easily be changed through variances, re-zonings, special exceptions, and conditional uses. In many parts of the United States there is a strong aversion to land use regulation, making the sale of land and sale or donation of conservation easements by willing landowners the only acceptable alternatives for protecting wildlife habitats. Conservation easements are often cited as having a lower cost than outright acquisition. On the other hand, if the land trust or government agency wants to actively manage the property, then fee simple purchase is recommended.

Meanwhile, estate and land transfer planning have continued to be necessary because of the rising value of real estate, especially in metropolitan regions. Federal estate taxes begin at 37% on estates valued at more than $1.5 million in 2005. The personal exemption from the estate tax rises to $3.5 million by 2009. There will be no estate taxes in 2010, but in 2011 the estate tax returns at 2003 rates and exemptions. In short, the greater a landowner’s wealth and income, the more financial incentive the landowner has to donate or sell a conservation easement as part of an estate plan or to transfer land intact to the next generation.

“A Brief History of Conservation Easements,” taken directly from the Final Report to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: An Evaluation of the Foundation’s Conservation Easement and Capacity-Building Grants Program (2005).

Conservation Tax Law Update

The Nantucket Land Council has posted on its website a ten-page Land Trust Alliance booklet detailing the 2006 federal tax incentive for conservation restriction donations. The incentive expired on December 31, 2007, but now has been extended through December 31, 2009, by recent passage of the federal Farm Bill, so the information in the booklet should still be current.

For more information about the extended conservation tax incentive and the Farm Bill, please see the Land Trust Alliance’s "Federal Tax Incentives" page.

Poll: Should Nonprofits That Own Property Pay Property Taxes?

In the wake of a recent newspaper article, “Tax Exemptions of Charities Face New Challenges,” which appeared in the May 26, 2008, issue of The New York Times, Philanthropy News Digest (PND) is conducting a poll of online readers to gauge whether nonprofit organizations that own their own property should pay property taxes.

The last time we checked the poll, 30% of the 92 voters said “yes,” 53% said “no,” and 16% were “not sure.”

To vote or check the results of the poll, see the right hand column of PND’s website.

Legislative Victory for Land Conservation

“Legislative Victory for Land Conservation”
Land Trust Alliance, Press Release
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. ... ©

Read the full press release and other information about the conservation tax incentive.

The following organizations are members of the Land Trust Alliance:

Barnstable Land Trust
Bourne Conservation Trust
Brewster Conservation Trust
Coalition for Buzzards Bay
Dennis Conservation Trust
Harwich Conservation Trust
Nantucket Conservation Foundation
Nantucket Land Council
Orenda Wildlife Land Trust
Orleans Conservation Trust
Sandwich Conservation Trust
‘Sconset Trust
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation
The 300 Committee
Truro Conservation Trust
Vineyard Open Land Foundation
Wellfleet Conservation Trust
Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts
Yarmouth Conservation Trust

Congress Extends Tax Break for Land Gifts

"Congress Extends Tax Break for Land Gifts"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 23, 2008
By Elizabeth Schwinn

WASHINGTON -- 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.

The provision, created as a temporary, two-year incentive under the Pension Protection Act, expired at the end of last year. Conservation groups, including the Land Trust Alliance ... lobbied Congress to make the provision permanent, saying it does much to spur donations of property. ...

Landowners now have until December 31, 2009, to take advantage of the tax break when they donate ranches, wetlands, forests, and other properties for conservation. ©

Read the full article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

State Environmental Bond Rally April 9 in Boston

As announced by the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition in its special edition E-news of March 24, 2008, an Environmental Bond Rally & Lobby Day in support of a $750 million state environmental bond bill is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, 2008, in Boston.

The rally for environmental organizations will take place at the Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy Street, and lobbying with state legislators will take place at the Massachusetts State House. For more details about the event and highlights of “The Most Important Environmental Bill of the Next Five Years,” see Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition’s E-News.

For Environmental Bond bill FAQ’s, the text of the bill, news, and a list of endorsers, see the website of the Coalition for the Environmental Bond. More than 250 nonprofit organizations and public entities have endorsed the bill, including:

•  Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Brewster Conservation Trust, Dennis Conservation Trust, Nantucket Land Council, Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, Sconset Trust, Tuckernuck Land Trust, Wellfleet Conservation Trust, Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts, The Trustees of Reservations, The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land

•  Coalition for Buzzards Bay, Friends of Pleasant Bay, Three Bays Preservation

•  Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod, Massachusetts Audubon Society

•  Chatham Conservation Commission, Edgartown Conservation Commission, Falmouth Conservation Commission, Sandwich Conservation Commission