February 28, 2007

A Victory for Conservation!

     Thanks to the efforts of WVLT members and others across the state, the General Assembly included Governor Kaine's full $950,000 in funding for the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) in their budget.  This means that VOF will be able to add additional staff members to handle the overwhelming number of conservation easements that are in the works across the Commonwealth.  For more information, please see the story in today's Roanoke Times.

     THANKS to everyone who responded to our Legislative Alert earlier in the month--your voices were heard!  Don't forget that another important issue is still waiting in the wings at the federal level--the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2007, S. 469, which will make permanent the extension of vital federal tax deductions that have helped to fuel the conservation boom.  Senator John Warner is now a co-sponsor of the bill.  If you haven't yet contacted Senator Webb asking him to support S.469, or thanked Senator Warner, please do so today!  See below for more information.
The Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2007, S. 469    

As you may know, in 2006, Congress passed legislation providing increased tax incentives for landowners who place conservation easements on their properties. (Read more from the Wall Street Journal)  The legislation:

• increases the federal deduction for donating an easement from 30% to 50% of adjusted gross income
• allows farmers to deduct 100% of adjusted gross income
• and extends the time frame to use the federal deduction from 5 to 15 years

These incentives have been a boon for conservation here in Virginia and across the country.  However, these tax benefits are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2007, unless Congress acts.  Fortunately, Senators John Warner from Virginia, Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) are co-sponsoring Senate bill 469, the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2007, to make these tax incentives permanent.  President Bush also supports making the incentives permanent. 

Without these tax incentives, many landowners will simply not be able to afford to place conservation easements on their properties.  We encourage you to contact Senator Jim Webb and ask him to join Senator Warner as a co-sponsor of S.469, and to contact Senator Warner to thank him for his support.

Senator Jim Webb
3140 Chaparral Drive Building C, Suite 101
Roanoke, VA 24018
Phone: (540) 772-4236
Fax: (540) 772-6870
http://webb.senate.gov/contact/

Senator John Warner
1003 First Union Bank Building
213 South Jefferson Street
Roanoke, VA 24011
Phone: (540) 857-2676
Fax: (540) 857-2800
http://www.senate.gov/~warner/contact/contactme.cfm

For more information on these issues, contact WVLT at (540) 985-0000 or by e-mail at rholnback@westernvirginialandtrust.org or dperry@westernvirginialandtrust.org.

© Copyright 2007, Western Virginia Land Trust
722 First Street SW, Suite L
Roanoke, VA 24016
(540) 985-0000