Legislation to make the federal tax incentive for the donation of conservation easements permanent has an incredible 260 co-sponsors in the House (H.R. 1964)! That’s more co-sponsors than any other bill that’s currently pending before Congress. The Senate version of the tax incentive bill has 11 co-sponsors (S. 339). The Land Trust Alliance has spearheaded the advocacy effort on this legislation nationally, but they always need help at the state and local level. See this fact sheet for more information.
Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation really needs to hear from land trust leaders and their constituents on this important issue – Representatives Kind, Baldwin, and Moore have signed on to the bill, but Representatives Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy and Ribble have not. Neither of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators – Johnson or Kohl – are cosponsors either.
You can reach Members of Congress by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. When you get through to a Member’s office, ask for the staffer who handles tax issues, and let them know how important this tax incentive is to land conservation in your local community and to your conservation work. If landowners in your area have benefited from the easement incentive, please share their stories!
The enhanced federal tax incentive for conservation easement donations is set to expire at the end of 2011, unless it is extended or made permanent. A permanent tax incentive would create predictability for landowners who are trying to plan for the future, and would significantly bolster private land conservation nationwide.
We know that land trusts are strategic with their time and resources, particularly when deciding to engage in public policy advocacy, but every land trust – large or small, staffed or all-volunteer – can help the broader conservation community by developing relationships with their elected officials. In an effort to enhance the role of land trusts as policy advocates, Gathering Waters recently partnered with the Land Trust Alliance to host a one-day training in La Crosse, Wisconsin, called Advocating for Success – How do I get from here to there? This workshop provided land trust leaders with an opportunity to learn from LTA and GWC staff, to hear from an in-district staffer for Representative Ron Kind, and to talk to their peers about making their advocacy efforts more efficient and effective. Stay tuned for more opportunities like this in the future.
