Dear ,
 This
year, one in every 2,405 conservation easements will require legal action, and
that rate is increasing. We all want to defend our easements, but few of us have
the funds to fight a protracted legal battle or multiple challenges.
On
June 5, the Alliance board approved the terms of a potential program to cover
the costs of defending and enforcing conservation easements and fee-owned land.
We need a minimum of 12,000 easements or fee parcels for this program to be feasible,
so the next step is to find out how many land trusts are willing to participate.
Hundreds of land trusts have already responded to this proposal with enthusiasm.
Please watch your e-mail and mail over the next few weeks for more details. Learn
more about the program.
Also, we recently learned that the IRS has
denied an easement deduction simply because the donor failed to secure a contemporaneous
written acknowledgment letter from the land trust. This is the second case in
which this happened, and other donations without this letter may be vulnerable
to an audit as well. More 
Rand
Wentworth
President, Land Trust Alliance
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| Alliance Board
Asks Land Trusts to Participate in Conservation Defense Insurance Program | Now that the Alliance board voted
to take the next step in the exploration of a possible conservation defense insurance
program, we need to determine if enough land trusts want to participate to make
the program feasible. The Alliance board will evaluate the level of commitment
over the next year and determine later whether to continue exploring the feasibility
of this program. Your land trust may be reluctant to take on the cost of
the new premium in the midst of a recession. Because of that concern, premium
payments would not begin until the program starts. If the Alliance board ultimately
approves the program, we wouldn’t begin actual operations before January
31, 2012 and possibly as late as December 31, 2013. However, a modest registration
fee is due with your letter of commitment. More |
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| Court Decision
Reveals Vulnerability of Donations for Audits | A recent Federal District Court decision held that the donor
of a conservation easement should lose all of their tax deduction because they
did not have a letter from the donee describing the easement donation and declaring
that the donee provided no goods or services in exchange for the gift. In
recent months, the IRS has repeatedly asserted that the requirement for a “contemporaneous
written substantiation,” required by Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(8)
is NOT met by the signing of a Form 8283.
The failure to provide such
a letter to the donor of an easement or land could make the donor vulnerable to
an IRS audit. More |
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| $300,000 Spent
to Defend Easement in California | In
a ruling by a California State Superior Court judge closely watched by land trusts
and property owners across the state, the Nevada County Land Trust and the owners
of conserved land prevailed last fall in a civil lawsuit brought by an adjacent
landowner who attempted to build a road across protected land to gain access to
his property. The land trust conducted a special appeal campaign locally to raise
a portion of the defense costs, which exceeded $300,000. More
Back to Top |
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| Six Newly Accredited
Land Trusts Announced | Congratulations
to the six
land trusts that were awarded accreditation in May by the Land
Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance.
This brings the total number of land conservation groups from across the country
that have earned this important distinction to 59.
The newly accredited
land trusts include organizations protecting vast forests in Maine, wind-swept
prairies in South Dakota and Nebraska, coastal bluffs and ranches in southern
California, pristine watersheds in Washington and Wisconsin, and rolling Ohio
farms. More |
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| Helping Board
Members Lead in Tough Economic Times | As a land trust board member, what is your role during an economic downturn?
Read the latest Board
Matters section of Saving Land for
help addressing these challenges. Print the PDF and circulate it at board meetings,
or post it on your website. More |
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| Second Annual
Board Member Summit | Are
you a board member? As a leader with the legal and fiduciary responsibility for
our land trust movement’s future, you manage many challenges and opportunities
in the quest for land conservation success. Join your fellow board members this
year at Rally-Portland to discuss shared concerns and ideas on a variety of critical
board issues relevant to your leadership role. RSVP through Rally registration,
or e-mail Suzanne with questions.
“Through discussion about board
dynamics with other board members, I was able to test my thoughts in a safe place
out loud.” – Summit participant, Rally-Pittsburgh ’08. |
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| Supporting the
National Land Conservation Community | We all benefit from national conservation initiatives – making
the tax incentive permanent, creating a comprehensive training curriculum, ensuring
legal defense, and more. By participating in the Alliance’s Board
Member Challenge, you and your board can increase your impact by supporting
conservation leaders working nationally to strengthen land trusts and advance
a shared vision for local land protection.
Enter to win! Have 100% board participation in the Challenge by
August 7, and be eligible to receive one of four complimentary basic registrations to Rally
’09. Winners announced August 10th. Take
the Challenge Back to Top |
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| Rally Registration
Is OPEN! | We can’t
wait to see you! Download
the brochure and register
today. Like to save land and money?
Register before August 17 and save $60 on the basic rate. Hotels are $131-$136/night
plus tax, and Kayak.com
recently showed low airfares to Portland from these cities:
- Boston
- $280
- Minneapolis - $299
- Denver - $151
- Los
Angeles - $259
Take MAX Rail from the airport to your hotel for only
$2.30, and later for FREE around downtown. Check the e-Board
(Password: Rally2009) to make travel/lodging arrangements with other Rally attendees.
More
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| Conservation
Information on Demand | What
if you could find just the information you needed whenever you need it? Now you
can with The
Learning Center Library (formerly LTAnet). With a few keystrokes, search over
2,000 pages of Saving Land and Exchange; over 2,000 pages of standards, practices,
and land trust sample documents; conference presentations; e-mails; and hundreds
of other resources for land conservationists.* Need
help logging in? Our brief Quick
Start Guide will help you get started.
* Access to The Learning Center is offered to board, staff and volunteers
of Alliance member land trusts and organizational partners, and to individual
members at the $250 level and above. Not one of these? Join
now. |
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| Unity to Wisdom:
Andy’s Great Adventure | Many
of you know Andy Weaver, IT manager for the Alliance, who has been with us for
12 years! This summer join Andy on his cross-country local land trust adventure.
Traveling from Unity (ME) to Wisdom (MT), Andy is meeting with and learning from
land trusts – small, large, urban, and rural – to discuss their issues
and how the Alliance can better serve their needs.
Follow Andy’s
journey from Unity to Wisdom through his blog (www.unitytowisdom.org)
and podcast audio interviews, including his latest visits with Friends of Unity
Wetlands and Downeast Lakes Land Trust in Maine. More Back to Top |
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eNews is edited and produced by Francesca
Dalleo, Communications Specialist at the Alliance.
This issue was sent to: archive_email@informz.net
Land
Trust Alliance
1660 L St NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036
p:
(202) 638-4725 | f: (202) 638-4730
www.landtrustalliance.org | eNews@lta.org
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