A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements

A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements
Author: C. Timothy Lindstrom
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2012-09-26
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1610910540

Voluntary land conservation, resulting from increasingly alluring tax benefits, has significantly changed the face of land use in the United States and promises to have an even more significant influence in the future. There are more than 1,500 land trusts in the U.S. today, involving millions of acres of land that have been permanently protected by conservation easements. Most of these land trusts depend heavily upon the significant income or estate tax benefits offered by the federal tax code as an incentive for voluntary land conservation. However, only a very small percentage of land trust personnel, landowners or their advisors, or even government officials, fully understand the complexity of the requirements for these tax benefits. This is a comprehensive book on the tax benefits of the charitable contribution, or bargain sale, of a conservation easement. It provides a detailed explanation of the complex and extensive requirements of the federal tax code and related concepts, including the rules governing the operation of tax-exempt organizations such as land trusts. Clearly written, systematic in its coverage, it is intended to be of value for anyone who deals with land trust issues, including land trust staff and trustees, landowners, lawyers, accountants, government officials, and interested lay people. Structured for easy reference, A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements is designed to be used as a resource tool. Related topics are cross-referenced throughout. All principles in the book are illustrated with one or more useful examples. The tax benefits of contributing a conservation easement are unquestionably the heart of voluntary land conservation today. Knowledge of the tax law relating to land trusts and conservation easements is vital to properly establishing and managing land trusts and to insuring the tax deductibility of conservation easements. The future of voluntary land conservation is dependent on a clear understanding of tax policy. Complete, meticulous, and up to date, A Tax Guide to Conservation Easements is an essential handbook.

Conservation Easements

Conservation Easements
Author: David J. Dietrich
Publisher: American Bar Association
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Conservation easements
ISBN: 9781614381136

Conservation easements permit the use of land to be donated or sold as part of an estate plan. For those considering an easement donation or sale, an understanding of the statutory, regulatory, and common-law principles involved is imperative, as well as a working knowledge of how to use the available resources in this complex field. This hands-on guide features an invaluable collection of techniques and drafting tips learned from decades of conservation easement practice plus four actual conservation easements.

Conservation Options

Conservation Options
Author: F. Marina Schauffler
Publisher:
Total Pages: 48
Release: 1994
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780964082014

Conservation Covenants

Conservation Covenants
Author: Great Britain. Law Commission
Publisher: Stationery Office/Tso
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2014
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780102988321

In this report, the Law Commission make recommendations for the introduction of a new statutory scheme of conservation covenants in England and Wales. The recommendations to introduce such a scheme would create a new legal tool, enabling landowners to protect land in order to conserve and restore our natural and built environment. Conservation covenants would allow landowners voluntarily to create binding obligations on their own land to meet a conservation objective, such as preserving woodland, cultivating a particular species of plant or protecting a habitat for an animal, or farming land in a certain way. The proposed statutory scheme would give individual landowners the opportunity, using private agreements, to contribute to conservation efforts being made across England and Wales. The scheme will create a versatile, simple and cost-effective legal tool capable of: unlocking currently missed conservation opportunities by overcoming the legal difficulties faced when creating binding obligations; facilitating better ways to deliver existing conservation objectives; and providing assurance of long-term conservation benefits. The report includes a draft Conservation Covenants Bill, which would introduce the conservation covenant scheme into the law of England and Wales.

A Changing Landscape

A Changing Landscape
Author: Laurie Ristino
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Biodiversity conservation
ISBN: 9781585761791

Softbound - New, softbound print book.

Investing in Nature

Investing in Nature
Author: William Ginn
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2013-04-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1597267678

In 2004, U.S. consumers spent $5.2 billion purchasing bottled water while the government only invested 5 percent of that amount to purchase critical watersheds, parks, and wildlife refuges-systems vital to clean water and healthy environments. How can we reverse the direction of such powerful economic forces? A group of dedicated business-people-turned-environmental-entrepreneurs is pioneering a new set of tools for land conservation deals and other market-based strategies. These pragmatic visionaries have already used these methods to protect millions of acres of land and to transform the practices of entire industries. They are transforming the very nature of conservation by making it profitable. Drawing on his vast experience in both business and land conservation at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), William Ginn offers a practical guide to these innovative methods and a road map to the most effective way to implement them. From conservation investment banking, to emerging markets for nature's goods and services, to new tax incentives that encourage companies to do the "right" thing, Ginn goes beyond the theories to present real-world applications and strategies. And, just as importantly, he looks at the lessons learned from what has not worked, including his own failed efforts in Papua New Guinea and TNC's controversial compatible development approach in Virginia. In an era of dwindling public resources and scarce charitable dollars, these tools reveal a new, and perhaps the only, pathway to achieving biodiversity goals and protecting our lands. Conservation professionals, students of land conservation, and entrepreneurs interested in green business will find Ginn's tales of high-finance deals involving vast tracts of pristine land both informative and exciting. More than just talk, Investing in Nature will teach you how to think big about land conservation.