Going into 2007, the Hailey-based Wood River Land Trust held conservation easements on 5,500 acres of land in Central Idaho, but by year's end that number could double.
It's an unparalleled glut of requests for the land trust, and the organization's staff is scrambling to get them completed before the end of the tax year.
"We're thrilled by the influx," said Kate Giese, the land trust's director of conservation. "It's really great for conservation what's happening. People are protecting their properties. It's something that the public values, and they've made it clear."
There is an explanation, however, for the increase in easements, and it is a nationwide trend. On Aug. 3, 2006, Congress approved an expansion of the federal conservation tax incentive for conservation easement donations. Those provisions "sunset"—or expire—at the end of 2007.
"I do think the incentives have something to do with the rush, but a lot of the people we're talking with have been thinking about it for a long time," said Heather Kimmel, the land trust's program and membership coordinator. "The tax incentives just give them the motivation to do it right now."
Giese said the land trust's announcement earlier this week of a 2,667-acre conservation easement in upper Antelope Creek in the eastern Pioneer Mountains will hopefully be the first of many easements to be announced before the end of the year.
In a typical year two or three, maybe fewer, easements come in toward the end of the year, Giese said. This year the land trust is facing more than three times that many.
"In general, I would say yes. People are taking advantage of this window of increased tax deduction," she said. "In particular (the legislation) makes the tax deduction associated with the gift of a conservation easement—it makes it more available to moderate-income people. The legislation lets you deduct more of your adjusted gross income and deduct it over a longer period of time."
She said the Wood River Land Trust believes it's a great thing for conservation and for landowners, a sentiment echoed by the national Land Trust Alliance, which is lobbying for an extension.
The Washington, D.C.-based Land Trust Alliance reported last month that the Senate Farm Bill includes the tax provisions that would make the conservation easement tax incentive permanent. The Senate was debating the Farm Bill yesterday, but it was not clear if the provisions would gain approval or not.
The Wood River Land Trust, too, is lobbying on behalf of extending the incentives and has been talking with the Idaho congressional delegation.
"The political will, I think most people would agree, is there," Giese said.
When the incentives were passed in August 2006 there was nationwide controversy regarding easements, particularly those protecting properties of historic significance, Giese said. Easements are generally considered to lower a property's market value by removing development potential, but easements protecting some historic properties actually increased their values, which enabled landowners to both claim tax deductions and sell properties for more money.
The system received scrutiny from the press, Congress and the Internal Revenue Service.
"I find it really interesting that after we took a hard look at conservation easements, rather than taking away the benefit to owners, they increased the benefit," Giese said. "And they made the punishment tougher for those who break the rules, and there's more scrutiny by the IRS."
Whether or not the tax incentives are extended, what the scenario means this month is more work—and more potential environmental protections—for properties throughout Central Idaho.
"At the end of 2006 we had protected about 5,500 acres, and we hope by the end of 2007 to break the 10,000 mark," Giese said.
She said the land trust has not had to turn any easement requests away, but it did impose an end-of-November deadline, which was a first. Now what remains is to work through a mountain of paperwork to complete the easements.
"Everyone is absolutely dedicated to working extra hours and getting them all done," Kimmel said. "Everyone's really excited, and it gives us the jolt we need to get it done. We're honored that people have been thinking of us, that people are interested in protecting and conserving their land. We're happy that people have been contacting us to work with them to do this."
The Wood River Land Trust was formed in 1994. Its executive director, Scott Boettger, was hired in 1997, and a second employee was hired early in 1999.
The organization has now grown to seven full-time staff members, two part-time employees and two summer interns, as well as an assortment of volunteers. It works on a myriad of projects including river restoration, managing land donations and, of course, coordinating and compiling conservation easements.
Prior to last week's large conservation easement, the Wood River Land Trust had protected 9,088 acres, a figure that includes land holdings and easements.
Boxcar Bend near East Fork on the Big Wood River was among the Wood River Land Trust?s first preserves. A year-end rush could boost the land trust?s conservation easements by a considerable margin. Photo courtesy Wood River Land Trust
