RedOrbit - Science - New Conservation-Easement Rules Spur Interest Here

RedOrbit - Science - New Conservation-Easement Rules Spur Interest Here: "New Conservation-Easement Rules Spur Interest Here

By Wilson, Rocky

Landowners here who've long considered the possibility of donating land to charity for tax purposes, or to preserve their land's uses well into the future, are exploring new federal conservation-easement legislation enthusiastically.

Chris DeForest, executive director of Inland Northwest Land Trust, of Spokane, says a 93-year-old Kootenai County woman who for years had considered donating land to the Spokane organization through a trust is saying the new incentives make this the right time.

After the new incentives were enacted, another individual who owned a prominent parcel of waterfront property at Newman Lake arranged with Inland Northwest Land Trust to protect the property from development, again through a trust. Within an hour of completing the transaction, the individual sold the property, knowing the land would be protected into the future, DeForest says.

Inland Northwest Land Trust is one of about six land trusts that operate in the Spokane County-North Idaho area, says DeForest. Small special-area land trusts here include the Dishman Hills Natural Area Association and the Loon Lake Land Conservancy. Large groups that negotiate conservationeasement agreements here are The Nature Conservancy, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Ducks Unlimited, he says."