Conservation Easements: Growth, Abuses, and Regulation

摘要

With land conservation flourishing throughout much of the United States, land trusts and conservation groups are setting their sights on new legislation that could significantly expand the practice of conserving land by purchasing future development rights. Concurrently, Congress is looking at the tactics used by land trusts and conservation groups―including whether inflated appraisals have led to deceptive tax deductions―as part of an intensive investigation. Will conservation groups, conservation easements, and appraisers come out of the congressional investigation unscathed? How will the proposed tax incentives and the investigation impact real estate appraisers? The answers remain to be seen, but the following provides an overview of both sets of issues.