I wanted to share a recent article from the Chicago Tribune about land conservation. The reporter did a nice job of telling the story of what is happening in the region with regard to land trusts protecting land.
I have to take a moment to "brag" a bit about TLC's 2006 accomplishments that are mentioned in the article! According to the article, a total of about 620 acres were protected in the Chicago region last year by land trusts - well, 406 of those acres were in McHenry County!! Read on!
--------------------
Keeping land safe from development --forever
--------------------
By Dave Wischnowsky
Tribune staff reporter
February 20, 2007
As development crept closer, Searle and Sue Wadley began to worry about the future of 100 acres of plush forest and sprawling wetlands they own in north suburban Antioch.
They feared their precious acreage would rise in value until they or a future owner couldn't help but sell it, and it would be razed for a new subdivision or a mega-store's parking lot. So this winter, the Wadleys joined a growing number of private landowners and signed a conservation easement that will permanently bar development on their property.
They can continue to live there, manage the land and sell it to whomever they want, but no one will ever be able to pave their piece of paradise.
Critics say it's a bad idea to make any land-use decision for perpetuity, since today's landowners have no idea what issues will face tomorrow's citizens.
But with urban sprawl rapidly swallowing farmland, forests and wetlands in the Chicago region, conservation easements are the fastest-growing mechanism locally for preserving natural areas, conservation experts say.
"I think the word about conservation easements is just starting to get out there," said Lisa Haderlein of the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. "People in the Midwest are starting to recognize what they've known in other parts of the country for a long time: These are valuable tools."
By committing to easements, landowners give up a potential windfall from developers, but receive in exchange federal income tax write-offs, a reduction in property taxes and peace of mind about their land's ultimate fate.
In 2006 alone, officials say, more than 620 acres were conserved through easements in the Chicago area. North of the city, rapidly growing Lake County is a leader, having more than 2,000 acres protected with easements this decade.
Nationwide, the number of acres under conservation easements swelled between 2000 and 2005, from 2.5 million to 6.3 million, according to Jim Wyerman of the Land Trust Alliance, a Washington, D.C., group representing more than 1,600 land trusts.
`Pressure to sell'
"And it's continuing to rise," he said. "For some people, it's the only way they can afford to continue to run a working farm or ranch. There's just such high pressure to sell, and property values continue to rise on land with development potential.
"That's forcing some landowners to sell off slices just to pay their property taxes."
Some states, such as Florida, have heard complaints that conservation easements could stifle development on land close to urbanized areas, causing growth to spill into rural regions. Carol LaGrasse of the Property Rights Foundation of America in New York is against conservation easements. She said they "put a straitjacket on the future of farms and farmers."
"They tie the land up, and you have no flexibility for changing conditions," said LaGrasse, who warned people who agree to an easement to pay close attention to the details of their ommitment.
Until recently, by far the most common way to save open space in Illinois was for non-profit groups or the government to simply buy it. But officials say strategies have begun to shift. Limited money is available to purchase land, and private citizens are realizing that the power to protect land is in their own hands.
A conservation easement is a legal agreement through which a landowner continues to own property, but gives up the right to develop it. The restriction remains with the land forever.
Landowners can determine the restrictions placed on their property, officials said, but a conservation organization is required to hold the easement to make sure it is honored.
Started in 1970s
Although conservation easements have existed since the late 1970s, they only recently began gaining popularity in Illinois and other Midwestern states. That's in part because of a law passed by Congress in August that improves income tax incentives for modest-income landowners, officials said.
The law extends from 5 to 15 years the time a landowner can benefit from tax deductions that are based on the appraised value of an easement. It also raises the cap on those deductions from 30 percent of a landowner's adjusted gross income to 50 percent--and 100 percent for qualifying farmers.
The law applies only to easements signed in 2006 and 2007. But legislation introduced in late January by Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) could make the tax benefits permanent.
In addition to the federal income tax benefits, landowners see their property taxes shrink as valuations go down. Tim Girmscheid, of Liberty Prairie Conservancy in Grayslake, said an easement generally reduces the open-market value of the property by about two-thirds.
Illinois ranks 39th among all states with about half of 1 percent of its land protected by private entities, including conservation easements, according to the Land Trust Alliance.
In Lake County, where 24,000 acres of farmland are expected to be developed by 2020, the Liberty Prairie Conservancy has helped place easements on about 4,500 acres since 1977. About half of that land has been protected since 2000, Girmscheid said.
The McHenry County Land Conservancy completed eight easements covering 406 acres in 2006. That compares with 20 easements covering 255 acres over the previous 14 years combined.
The Conservation Foundation of Naperville, which covers DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties, put four of its 17 easements into effect in 2006, on 120 acres.
In 1988, when the Wadleys bought property within sight of southern Wisconsin's Wilmot Mountain ski slope, the couple didn't imagine it would be threatened by sprawl so soon.
But since 2000, Antioch's population has surged from about 8,800 to more than 13,700, with ground already broken for more stores and residential areas.
So on Jan. 3 the Wadleys put an easement on the land where they live alongside more than 130 bird species, including the endangered sandhill crane and yellow-headed blackbird. Searle Wadley said that although the tax incentives are a benefit, "The big attraction for us is the perpetuity."
Girmscheid said property held privately under a conservation easement stays on the tax rolls, bringing in revenue--albeit less than if it were developed--to help pay for municipal services and schools. Land owned by non-profit environmental groups or government entities brings in no tax revenue. What's more, under an easement, private owners pay for any upkeep
to the land.
Because easements protect open space and keep the land in private hands, they are attractive to local governments and county forest preserve districts, where resources are limited.
Meeting goals
The easements can help local governments meet their goals for preserving open space without directly costing them money. The Lake County Forest Preserve District recently shelled out $14.5 million in tax dollars to buy 145 acres near Wauconda. By comparison, the Wadleys' 100 acres were conserved at no up-front cost.
"When you think about it, the federal and state governments can't possibly buy all the lands that have high-quality natural resources on them," said Dan Lobbes, director of land preservation for the Conservation Foundation of Naperville. "Conservation easements are another way to make sure that those lands are protected."
----------
dwischnowsky@tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment