Protecting the Ecological Continuity of Real Property

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Protecting the Ecological Continuity of Real
Property

• Agricultural land
• Biological Diversity rare and endangered
  species, communities, ecosystems
• Forest land
• Wetland, Shoreland, Floodplain
• Water Bodies surface, groundwater
• Open Space
• Scenic Vistas visibility
• Historic/Cultural structures battlefields,
  artifacts, districts, facades
• Concerned about regulating landowners using
  surface in ways that degrade the ecological
  characteristics of an area or structure pay
  less attention to specific activities

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• Protecting open space in and around the Twin
  Cities Metropolitan Area in Bengston, David N.
  (tech. ed.). Policies for Managing Urban Growth
  and Landscape Change A Key to Conservation in
  the 21st Century. General Technical Report
  NC-265. St. Paul, MN USDA Forest Service, North
  Central Research Station. 14-20

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• Assuming the responsibility of protecting
  particular ecological characteristics merely a
  good, such as an automobile, or service, such as
  education, we need to protect
• characteristics of lands owned by the federal
  government
• characteristics of lands owned by the state
  governments and local government
• characteristics of lands owned privately, by
  individuals or organizations
• Different strategies ya think?

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State Partners

• Regional Parks
• In 1974 Metropolitan Parks Act created a
  partnership between the Metropolitan Council, the
  regional planning agency, and the local
  governments operating the units that belonged to
  the Regional Recreation Open Space System
• 46 regional parks and park reserves
• 22 trails and six special recreation areas
• Parks are operated by the respective cities and
  counties
• Dakota County Parks
• Minneapolis Park Recreation Board
• St Paul Parks Recreation

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Minnesota Agricultural Land Preservation Statutes

• Perceived as an urban or metropolitan area
  problem where often regarded as much an
  ecological and open space issue as it is an
  economic and livelihood issue
• The preservation of Americas prime agriculture
  lands is deemed by many policy-makers to be a
  vital long-term strategic interest
• Minnesota Agricultural Land Preservation Program
• (1) preserve and conserve agricultural land,
  including forest land, for long-term agricultural
  use in order to protect the productive natural
  resources of the state, maintain the farm and
  farm-related economy of the state, and assure
  continued production of food and timber and
  agricultural uses
• (2) preserve and conserve soil and water
  resources
• (3) encourage the orderly development of rural
  and urban land uses.

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Tools

• The goals of the policy will be best met by
  combining state policies and guidelines with
  local implementation and enforcement procedures
  and private incentives
• 1967 Minnesota Agricultural Property Tax Law
  established the Green Acres program
• The statute protects agricultural landowners from
  high property taxes that are caused by
  nonagricultural market forces, such as city and
  recreational development
• Land values are usually assessed based on the
  highest and best use
• Under the program, counties assess eligible
  agricultural land based on agricultural use
• In fiscal year 2006, the program reduced taxes on
  agricultural land in 43 counties by about 42.8
  million

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• Metropolitan Agricultural Preserves Act
• Agricultural Preserves
• Minnesota Agricultural Land Preservation Program
• Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas Program

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Federal Public Lands1796-1934 Privatizing land
the principal objective

• 1796-1812  Early attempts to privatize land under
  Congressional supervision
• 1812-1934  Privatizing land - the federal real
  estate agency the General Land Office
• 1812-1862  Land as a source of revenue
• 1862-1935  Land as a subsidy for settlement -
  homestead, railways, etc
• 1872 Yellowstone National Park established
• 1891 President authorized to reserve forest land
  still in federal ownership
• 1906 President authorized to protect antiquities
  on federal land
• 1911  Weeks Act, allowing the USDA to acquire
  privately owned cutover forestland for watershed
  purposes
• 1924  Clarke-McNary Act, allowing the USDA to
  acquire cutover forestland for forestry
  demonstration purposes
• 1934 The Taylor Grazing Act ending privatization
  in general
• 1946 The Bureau of Land Management established as
  successor to the General Land Office

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Major Rural Uses of Federal Land

• National Park System
• National Forests
• National Grasslands
• Wilderness Areas
• National Wildlife Refuges
• Reservoirs

• Voyageurs National Park
• Wild and Scenic Rivers Legislation
• St Croix National Scenic Riverway
• Lower St. Croix
• Mississippi National River Recreation Area
• Pipestone NM
• Grand Portage NM
• North Country National Scenic Trail
• Park Histories

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US Fish Wildlife Service in Minnesota

• National Wildlife Refuge Legislation
• Upper Mississippi Fish Wildlife Refuge
• Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
• Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
  Protection Act of 1999
• Impact of Airport Expansion on the Minnesota
  Valley NWR (House Committee on Resources)

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State-owned Lands Chronology
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Current Management by DNR
4,907,898 acres of lakes 7,500,000 acres of
wetlands 92,000 miles of rivers and streams
Also 800,000 acres outside any management
unit Severed mineral estate ca 1 million acres
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Protecting Privately Owned Land

• Public Acquisition
• Regulatory
• Financial Incentives
• Private Action deed restriction

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Protecting Privately Owned Land as Open Space

• Approximately 60 acres of land lost locally in
  the Twin Cities each day
• Need to restore and protect open space and
  natural areas within the metropolitan region
  increases

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Conservation Easements

• Conservation easements, as we know them today,
  are a fairly recent approach to land
  conservation. As government acquisitions and
  regulatory restrictions on land use have become
  prohibitively invasive, costly, and ineffective,
  governments have looked to conservation easements
  as a potentially effective and less expensive
  conservation method than government ownership
  and/or regulation (National Policy Analysis)
• A conservation easement is a restriction placed
  on a piece of property to protect the ecological
  values of the parcel
• The easement is either voluntarily sold or
  donated by the landowner, and constitutes a
  legally binding agreement that prohibits certain
  types of development from taking place on the
  land
• Like other easements it runs with the land
• May be eligible for federal and state tax
  deductions

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Conservation Easements as Real Property Rights

• Uniform Conservation Easement Act (1981)
• Conservation Easements (Minnesota Statutes)

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Financial Incentives to Conservation Easements

• Tax benefits for gifts of conservation easements
  were first provided by Congress to promote
  conservation in the United States in the Tax
  Reform Act of 1976 and the Tax Reduction and
  Simplification Act of 1977
• In 1980 Congress passed the Tax Treatment
  Extension Act (creating IRC section 170(h)),
  which made permanent the income tax charitable
  deduction benefits for gifts of qualified
  conservation contributions
• In 1997 Congress passed the Taxpayer Relief Act,
  which created a new estate tax benefit (IRC
  section 2031(c)) for landowners who donate
  conservation easements

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26 USC US Internal Revue Code

•  2522. Charitable and similar gifts
• (d) Special rule for irrevocable transfers of
  easements in real property
• A deduction shall be allowed under subsection (a)
  in respect of any transfer of a qualified real
  property interest (as defined in section 170
  (h)(2)(C)) which meets the requirements of
  section 170 (h)
• Subtitle A gt CHAPTER 1 gt Subchapter B gt PART VI gt
   170 (h)(2)(C))

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• The conservation purpose must be exclusive
• The conservation purpose must be protected in
  perpetuity
• No surface mining is permitted
• In general where there is a retention of a
  qualified mineral interest a contribution does
  not qualify if there may be extraction or removal
  of minerals by any surface mining method
• With respect to any contribution of property in
  which the ownership of the surface estate and
  mineral interests were separated before June 13,
  1976, and remain so separated the contribution
  does qualify if the probability of surface mining
  occurring on such property is so remote as to be
  negligible

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General Rule

• There shall be allowed as a deduction any
  charitable contribution - payment of which is
  made within the taxable year
• A ''charitable contribution'' means a
  contribution or gift to or for the use of
• A state, a possession of the United States, or
  any political subdivision of any of the
  foregoing, or the United States or the District
  of Columbia, but only if the contribution or
  gift is made for exclusively public purposes
• A corporation, trust, or community chest, fund,
  or foundation

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Qualified Conservation Contribution

• Qualified conservation contribution means a
  contribution
• of a qualified real property interest
• to a qualified organization
• exclusively for conservation purposes
• A qualified real property interest means any of
  the following interests in real property
• the entire interest of the donor other than a
  qualified mineral interest,
• a remainder interest, and
• a restriction (granted in perpetuity) on the use
  which may be made of the real property

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Qualified Organization

• Organized and operated exclusively for religious,
  charitable, scientific, literary, or educational
  purposes, or to foster national or international
  amateur sports competition (but only if no part
  of its activities involve the provision of
  athletic facilities or equipment), or for the
  prevention of cruelty to children or animals
• No part of the net earnings of which inures to
  the benefit of any private shareholder or
  individual and
• Which is not disqualified for tax exemption under
  section 501(c)(3) by reason of attempting to
  influence legislation, and which does not
  participate in, or intervene in (including the
  publishing or distributing of statements), any
  political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition
  to) any candidate for public office

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A Conservation Purpose

• The preservation of land areas for outdoor
  recreation by, or the education of, the general
  public, the protection of a relatively natural
  habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or similar
  ecosystem, the preservation of open space
  (including farmland and forest land) where such
  preservation is
• for the scenic enjoyment of the general public,
  or pursuant to a clearly delineated Federal,
  State, or local governmental conservation policy,
  and will yield a significant public benefit, or
  the preservation of an historically important
  land area or a certified historic structure

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Certified Historic Structure

• Any building, structure, or land area which
• is listed in the National Register, or
• is located in a registered historic district (as
  defined in section 47(c)(3)(B)) and is certified
  by the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary
  as being of historic significance to the district
• A building, structure, or land area satisfies the
  preceding sentence if it satisfies such sentence
  either at the time of the transfer or on the due
  date (including extensions) for filing the
  transferor's return under this chapter for the
  taxable year in which the transfer is made

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Federal Tax Benefits

• Federal income tax deduction
• Donated conservation easements are considered a
  qualified charitable donation under the federal
  tax code, property owners can deduct the value of
  the easement, defined as the difference between
  the value of the land just before the easement is
  granted and the value of the land immediately
  after the donation
• In August 2006, Congress passed the revised
  Pension Protection Act raising the maximum
  federal tax deduction for conservation easements
  from a maximum of 30 of adjusted gross income to
  100 for farmers and ranchers, and to 50 for
  non-farmers.
• The increase expired at the end of December 2007,
  but a provision now pending in the Food and
  Energy Security Act of 2007 (the "farm bill")
  would extend the tax deductions for two more years

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Federal Tax Benefits

• 2. Federal estate tax deduction
• Relief from estate taxes is the most significant
  tax benefit for landowners granting conservation
  easements, particularly those who inherit sizable
  estates
• In 1997, Congress passed estate tax relief
  legislation for conservation easement grantors
• The purpose was to encourage property owners to
  hold on to property they might otherwise want to
  sell to land developers to offset debilitating
  estate tax burdens
• The tax provisions allow the grantor to deduct
  the value of the easement from the fair market
  value of the deceased's estate
• The donor may also deduct up to 40 of the value
  of the estate at the time the owner dies

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• State income tax credits
• Twelve states provide tax credits, though most
  are not as substantial as the federal income tax
  benefit.
• The most significant tax incentives are provided
  by Colorado and Virginia, which allow grantors to
  sell partial or full amounts of their credit to
  other taxpayers in the state
• 2. Property tax relief
• At least 17 states also provide property tax
  incentives, allowing donors to deduct the value
  of the easement from the assessed value of the
  property

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Land Trusts (Wikipedia)

• Land Trust Alliance
• The Nature Conservancy
• Nature Conservancy Minnesota
• Minnesota Land Trust
• The Trust for Public Land
• The Trust for Public Land Minnesota

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• The nation's 1,663 local, state and regional land
  trusts control land use on 12 million acres of
  private lands
• Approximately half that amount - 6.2 million
  acres - is controlled through conservation
  easements, up from 2.5 million acres in 2000
• Most of the controlled land is managed by large,
  national environmental organizations, such as The
  Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land,
  Ducks Unlimited, American Farmland Trust and The
  Conservation Fund. 
• Over three million acres is protected through
  conservation easements by TNC, a fivefold
  increase since 1997, when the land trust held
  645,000

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Dakota County

• Area of rapid urbanization south of St.
  Paul/Minneapolis
• Plan to protect a variety of open spaces and
  prevent farmland and other open space, primarily
  along protected waterways, from being lost
• inventory and rank the quality of natural areas
  and farmland
• 42,000 acres of farmland and 36,000 acres of
  natural areas, about 2 percent of the County,
  have been identified as eligible for the program
• B. protect the ecological continuity of these
  areas

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Dakota County

• November 2002 voters in Dakota County approved
  the sale of 20 million in bonds to acquire real
  property interests, either fee title or permanent
  conservation easements, from private landowners
• In the program most protected land would remain
  privately owned, the landowners paid for keeping
  land open
• Some land will be acquired by public entities
• Practice
• permanent easements on privately owned high
  quality farmland within ½ mile of DNR rivers and
  streams outside of the area planned for orderly
  extension of city sewer and water services
  acquired by county
• permanent easements  on privately owned natural
  resources acquired by county and fee title
  acquired either by nonprofits or public agency

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Farmland Protection

• To date the county has acquired six easements on
  farmland totaling 637 acres at a total cost of
  2.4 million 
• Federal matching funds and landowner donation
  have reduced the countys cost to 1 million
• Nine other farmland properties, totaling 1330
  acres, are being negotiated
• County has been awarded 993,925 in matching
  funds from the United States Department of
  Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation
  Service for farmland protection
• A total of 3.3 million in such funds have been
  awarded to the program

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• The Trust for Public Land acquired a 22-acre
  remnant of the Big Woods from private landowners
• conveyed 15 acres of woods to the City of Wayzata
• conveyed 7 acres containing building and lawn to
  The Retreat, a private nonprofit organization
• encumbered both titles with perpetual
  conservation easements held by the Minnesota Land
  Trust
• Funding
• 3 million public bond referendum passed by
  Wayzata citizens in November 2003
• the Retreat's own financing
• private contributions from residents in and
  around Wayzata

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Trust for Public Land Acquisitions

• Wayzata Big Woods
• Eagan Greenway
• Anoka Wildlife
• Twin Cities Mississippi Program
• Minnesota Greenprinting

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Community Land Trusts

• Rondo Community Land Trust

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Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council

• Dennis Anderson More power to the people
• Panel weighs plan to take over parcel in Itasca
  County
• Editorial Beware of end-runs on legacy spending
   
• Proposals pour in for spending on prairies,
  wetlands   
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