[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 118 (Friday, July 25, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 2807, CONSERVATION EASEMENT INCENTIVE ACT

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                       HON. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2014

  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of H.R. 2807, the Conservation Easement Incentive Act. This 
important legislation would make the current tax deduction for the 
contribution of conservation easements permanent, affording landowners 
the stability and certainty needed to complete the long term planning 
necessary for either continued agricultural production or conservation 
work. Since being signed into law in 2006, the enhanced tax incentive 
for conservation easements has boosted donations of conservation 
easements by a third--to a total of over a million acres a year.
   The Hudson Valley is a national treasure that must be preserved, and 
we owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect the places New 
Yorkers cherish and depend on. In the Hudson Valley, a landowner in my 
district is struggling to preserve his thirty five acre homestead, 
which he has lived on for over 40 years. The land dates back to the 
original family farmsteads and orchards that have dotted the Hudson 
Valley for generations. Many of those farmsteads have since been sold 
to developers, but not his. The parcel of land he is fighting to 
protect and preserve is not only precious in its heritage and 
conservation value, but in its current use as a trail, which connects 
several larger land preserves in the region. While he would like to 
donate a conservation easement and receive the much needed tax 
deduction, there is considerable financial pressure on him to sell the 
land to developers. If that happens--the land is lost. And as my friend 
and President of the Westchester Land Trust, Lori Ensinger, put it--
when the land is lost, it's lost for good.
   We must balance economic development with protecting the land for 
preservation and outdoor recreation. Rather than being forced to sell 
to developers, conservation easement tax incentives allow farmers and 
landowners the choice to maintain working lands for agriculture or to 
protect more land for wildlife protection and outdoor recreation. In 
the Hudson Valley conservation easements have a tremendously positive 
impact, boosting regional economies while protecting some of America's 
most important natural sites for future generations.
   While we have been successful in protecting thousands of acres over 
the last ten years all across the Hudson Valley, our work is not done. 
Passing the Conservation Easement Incentive Act is about more than just 
environmental preservation it is about regional economies, businesses 
and jobs. Without the conservation easement tax incentives, landowners 
may be forced to divide or sell their property to developers; losing 
the land, its heritage and economic benefits for good.

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