Conservation Trust for North Carolina Electronic Newsletter

U.S. Senate Considers Conservation “Reforms”

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on June 8 held a hearing to release results of its investigation into alleged abuses of conservation tax incentives and to discuss potential reforms to tax laws governing conservation tools such as permanent conservation agreements (easements).

The investigation centered largely on practices and policies within The Nature Conservancy that had been reported by the Washington Post two years ago. The Committee reported nothing substantially different from the Post stories, and Committee Chairman Charles Grassley praised TNC for responding with a series of internal reforms.

Because of an effective grassroots education campaign orchestrated by the national Land Trust Alliance and carried out by land trusts throughout the country, almost all of the eleven senators present stressed the need to maintain important tax incentives to spur voluntary conservation by willing landowners. Senators seem to have rejected proposals issued in January by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation that would have crippled voluntary land conservation.

Although the tone of the hearing was better than expected, the Finance Committee will consider a number of other reforms that could make land and water conservation much more difficult, time-consuming, and bureaucratic. North Carolina land trusts support reforms that will target real abuses such as inflated values on appraisals, but are opposed to tax law changes that would hamper efforts to protect lands that provide true conservation value for public benefit.

Reforms that land trusts support include:

• Tougher appraisal standards and penalties for improper appraisals
• Accreditation program for land trusts managed by the land trust community (rather than by government designed mandate)
• Measures to ensure strong enforcement of existing tax laws

We will keep you posted as potential reforms move forward and will be sure to give you opportunities to communicate with your U.S. Senators and Representatives.

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Conservation Trust for North Carolina
PO Box 33333
Raleigh, NC 27636
Phone: 919-828-4199
Fax: 919-828-4508
Executive Director: Reid Wilson, reid@ctnc.org
Web page: http://www.ctnc.org

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