[ Washington , DC ] New land conservation tax benefits for family farmers and ranchers are included in just-passed pension reform legislation, now awaiting the President’s signature. The new law will combine an adjusted tax incentive for land conservation with common sense reforms to ensure the public benefit of conservation donations. This law will help landowners and land trusts protect important lands across America. The new law extends the carry-forward period for tax deductions for voluntary conservation agreements from 5 to 15 years and raises the cap on those deductions from 30 percent of a donor’s adjusted gross income to 50 percent – and to 100 percent for qualifying farmers and ranchers. This allows ranchers, farmers and other modest-income landowners to get a much larger benefit for donating very valuable development rights to their land. Voluntary conservation agreements, also known as conservation easements, are an important tool for land conservation. When landowners donate voluntary conservation agreements, they protect resources important to the public by giving up future development rights, while retaining ownership and management of the land.

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