[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 147 (Thursday, December 4, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6326-S6327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           LAND CONSERVATION

  Mr. MURPHY. Madam President, this is a picture of Wike Brothers' Farm 
in Sharon, CT. Sharon is located in the very northwest portion in the 
great State of Connecticut. It has been an active farm held by the same 
family, the Wike brothers, for about 150 years. It is about 144 acres. 
It is a pasture now for free-range chickens, pigs, and cattle.
  The farm's roadside store, which is used by people from Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, and New York--given that it sits right at the crux of 
those three States--sells beef, pork, sausages, eggs, apple-smoked 
bacon, and maple syrup, to name a few.
  We are able to know, confidently, that this piece of iconic farm land 
that is producing for the neighboring farms and States is going to be 
able to continue as a farm because of something that Congress did.
  Congress passed, enacted in 2006, a land conservation incentive in 
our Tax Code that gives a small tax incentive to farmers who decide to 
put a conservation easement on their land to make sure it doesn't fall 
into the hands of developers. Further, we provide a slightly smaller 
discount, a slightly smaller tax incentive to private nonfarm, 
nonagricultural landowners who want either to donate their lands or who 
want also to put a conservation easement on their land to make sure 
that it doesn't get developed.
  This has been of enormous benefit in the State of Connecticut. We 
have preserved 11,000 acres of land in Connecticut just since this tax 
incentive went on the books. That is a 45-percent increase over the 
previous period of time before we put that tax incentive on the books.
  It is a wonderful bipartisan policy because we are able, by 
discounting people's taxes, to keep land as open space without it, 
frankly, going into the hands of public land owners, which is often met 
with resistance from a lot of Members from our Western States.
  Land stays in the hands of the private landowner or, in this case, in 
the hands of the Wike brothers, who have been farming it for a century 
and a half. But we know, because of that conservation easement, it will 
be maintained as open space.
  As bipartisan as that idea is, the entire genesis of land 
conservation is a bipartisan idea, and maybe even to an extent it is a 
partisan or Republican idea. It was Teddy Roosevelt who quadrupled the 
acreage in our national forests, invented the National Wildlife Refuge 
System, and proclaimed 18 national monuments. He said in 1910: 
``Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic 
duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation.''
  It was Richard Nixon who created the EPA and signed into law the 
Clean Water Act. In 1970 he said: ``Clean air, clean water, open 
spaces--these should once again be the birthright of every American.''
  While there aren't a lot of Democrats coming to the floor and quoting 
Ronald Reagan, he had some very impressive things to say about this 
country's commitment and his movement's commitment to conservation, as 
well.
  Ronald Reagan said:

       What is a conservative after all but one who conserves, one 
     who is committed to protecting and holding close the things 
     by which we live. . . . And we want to protect and conserve 
     the land on which we live--our countryside, our rivers and 
     mountains, our plains and meadows and forests. This is our 
     patrimony. This is what we leave to our children. And our 
     great moral responsibility is to leave it to them either as 
     we found it or better than we found it.

  I am on the floor to speak in favor of the continuance of the land 
conservation tax incentive program that we hope will be in whatever tax 
extension deal gets passed by the Congress, as many proponents of the 
provision in that tax extension package would like.
  It would be better if this were permanent. It is very difficult to do 
long-term planning for owners and operators of big farms such as the 
Wike Brothers' Farm if they don't know the tax incentive is going to be 
there for them. It is very difficult to do this retroactively, but it 
is important, nonetheless, to get this extended because this isn't the 
only property in our State that has been affected.
  The Towner Hill Farm in Sherman, CT, is an 80-acre property that 
would not have been protected if it weren't for the Federal tax 
deduction which was available to the owner in 2008. He offered it to 
the town of Sherman at less than the value that he might have gotten at 
a private land sale because he knew he was going to be able to get this 
tax incentive. Now it is home to one of the most popular hiking areas 
in all of that area in Sherman, CT.
  The Vanishing Geese Farm in Durham, CT, the center of the State, has 
a 42-acre farm that has been in the Scott family since the 1970s. They 
desperately wanted to continue farming, but the ability to have a 
conservation easement purchased from them put money in their pockets 
that allowed them to continue to farm but also gave them piece of mind, 
knowing that this piece of land that they love is going to be able to 
stay as open space.
  Mr. Scott said, in his own colloquial way: ``Having worked the land, 
cut my firewood from it, raised sheep on it, and hayed it, I have 
developed a lot of affection for it.''
  In regard to the donation of the easement on his family's property, 
he said:

       I told my kids that my chest was puffed out a little more 
     and when I walked out in the snow, it was nice to know that 
     this land will never be developed. I feel that I've kind of 
     kept faith with the land and with the critters on it.

  This is a very important tax incentive that, as I said, has resulted 
in tens of thousands of acres being preserved in the State of 
Connecticut. It is maybe the most important legacy that we leave--to 
recognize that part of the true greatness of this country is the land 
upon which we live, the open spaces that define what it is to be an 
American.
  I mean, the Industrial Revolution powered us to global greatness but

[[Page S6327]]

we--maybe better than any other nation in the world--have found this 
miraculous way to marry together development and conservation, to 
decide that there are going to be places that we are going to develop 
for their natural resources or for their industrial capacity. But then 
there are going to be these magical places, like this beautiful farm in 
northwestern Connecticut, where agriculture is happening and which to 
many of us defines the character of the place in which we live--
practical reasons why we should conserve a place such as the Wike 
Brothers' Farm to continue agriculture. But I would also argue there 
are spiritual reasons as well--reasons having to do with what it is to 
be a citizen and inhabitant of this great Nation.
  Republicans and Democrats, over the course of our congressional 
history, have come together to protect open spaces. Since 2006 
Republicans and Democrats have come together to protect this important 
tax incentive; 221 House Members have cosponsored the legislation and 
27 Senators.
  I will leave with this statement. It is a bipartisan legacy for me as 
well.
  I ran a spirited race for the U.S. Congress in 2006, beating a 24-
year incumbent, Republican Nancy Johnson. There were places where I 
departed from her legacy and there were places where I inherited it. 
Nancy Johnson was one of the authors, one of the creators, of this 
important conservation tax incentive. So in my corner of the world 
there is a legacy of standing up for it, which is why I come to the 
floor today.
  I thank the body for the time, I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

                          ____________________