Conservation Easements

[WesternRookie]

Don't know much about the details in that particular case, but those tax law quotes seem to be saying something as basic as, "You can't call it a conservation easement and plan to extract all the resources." If that's the correct interpretation, I don't think it will affect most easements.

I believe the premise of Conservation Easements are to maintain "green space". If timber is harvested, there would be subsequent regeneration, either naturally, or if replanted. The land has not been developed.

To now attempt to change the rules is akin to the government putting its hand into people's 401ks/IRAs in the future (sadly something I fully expect, and why I have shifted to Roth).

 

[BigHornRam]

The case in question is one of these sham tax avoidance conservation easements,

The IRS Leaves A Lump Of Coal For Syndicated Conservation Easements In Notice 2017-10

'Tis the season for tax shelters, fa la la la la . . . Yes, we're here at the end of the year, where successful entrepreneurs and investors and business owners all call up their tax attorneys and CPAs looking for a big deduction, even if manufactured out of the thin [...]

www.forbes.com

and it appears like the court ruled to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The legitimate conservation easement industry is watching closely how this plays out.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I used a conservation easement on a piece of my ground. My long term goal was to "develop" this ground into a wildlife habitat to use for hunting. But financially I had to farm it until i had it paid for so i could make the payment on it.

Thanks to a 30yr CE, I was able to achieve my goal about 25yrs early.

When I sat down and penciled out the CE vs Farming, The CE made sense. Makes even more sense now with current commodity prices.

 

[wytex]

The family just closed on our CE, putting aside a potion of the ranch and leaving some for future home sites for the family.

 

[MNTrapper]

I granted (was compensated for) a conservation easement on my 240 acres in east central ND. It's mostly a duck slough now but has about 80 +/- acres of hay ground in dry years.
the USFWS program I'm in really just precludes draining the land or filling it in. I think the compensation was fair.
With the amount of cover coming out of CRP and just generally bulldozing of shelter belts in my area the wildlife is really up against the wall.
I literally have guys driving back and forth around my property waiting for something to run out of the cattails because they have plowed their own land fence line to fence line...probably another thread....
The short story is that my experience was positive, I didn't give up the right to allow my choice of people using the land and the critters get a better chance.

 

[sneakypete]

This is a very interesting thread, Randy you are spot on. I have property in Montana that is in a CE for all the right reasons, to protect it from development. Yes we have a designated housing area, we do have a farmer farming a good portion of the acreage and the rest is for hunting only.