Information for Landowners

Welcome to our information page. If you are a landowner interested in learning more about how to preserve your land, we hope these resources will be helpful. For a copy of The Manada Conservancy Preservation Packet, click here. This packet contains information about land trusts and what they do, information about the process of placing a conservation easement, and a fact sheet about land protection options.

Many landowners with a significant parcel of land would like to see it stay undeveloped, either for agriculture, wildlife habitat, historic or scenic value, or to enhance the quality of life in their community. Often, even though they don’t want to see their land developed, it happens anyway, either because some is sold to pay bills, or because the heirs can’t afford to pay the estate taxes. This tax incentive may help. It allows landowners who place a qualifying conservation easement on their land to deduct, over a period of years, much of the value of the easement. The result can be significant income tax payment reductions over the life of the deduction period. Many farmers, ranchers and landowners are benefiting from this new incentive, which is due to expire at the end of 2009. If you have ever had thoughts of protecting your land, now might be the time to act.

For a fact sheet about the recently passed tax incentive legislation, click here.

What is a conservation easement? Simply put, it is a restriction placed on a parcel of land, protecting its conservation value by limiting development, restricting activities in sensitive areas, such as stream banks or steep slopes. or preserving it as farmland. The restrictions run with the deed in perpetuity. You retain ownership of the property, but have given up some rights, such as limiting subdivision, according to the terms—established by you—of your easement This restriction reduces the value of your property by a measurable amount, which may be considered a charitable deduction by the IRS.

Public benefit does not mean public access. Conservation easements which protect farmland, habitat and stream buffers have public benefit even though they remain in private hands.

The Manada Conservancy is a non-profit land preservation organization—a land trust—with the mission of preserving natural, agricultural, scenic and historic lands in our region. We work with landowners who wish to preserve their land voluntarily, and once we have accepted a conservation easement on a property, we are responsible to make sure, in perpetuity, that the preservation wishes of the landowner are upheld. This does cost us money, and we do request (but do not require) a small endowment amount to help us uphold our responsibility to your land—the IRS requires that we demonstrate that we have the resources to protect the easement. We take this job very seriously, and we have worked with a number of landowners to protect their lands in this way. See some of our past projects.

By the end of 2008, we will have protected over 500 acres of farmland, habitat and stream corridor in our region. We work primarily in Dauphin County, and we serve our own community—we know the area and the people who live here, and they know us.

The Summary of Land Preservation Options, below, is also included in the downloadable Preservation Packet.

The Manada Conservancy is a sponsor member of the Land Trust Alliance (www.lta.org) , a national umbrella organization for land trusts. Their web site contains a wealth of information about land trusts, land protection and specific land preservation issues.

We also belong to The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (www.conserveland.org), which seeks to protect Pennsylvania’s special places and landscapes for today and for generations to come. To increase the quality and pace of land conservation, PALTA helps conservation practitioners improve their effectiveness, builds public understanding, and advocates for better governmental policy. PALTA's web site also contains information for landowners.

Summary of Land Preservation Options

1. Donate a conservation easement. This is the most popular method of preserving land. In return for the public benefit provided by the preservation of the land, the land trust provides the service of monitoring and enforcing the terms of the easement in perpetuity.

2. Sell a conservation easement. Occasionally, landowners can be compensated, in whole or in part, for their conservation easement by a land trust, or by a government program such as the Agricultural Preservation program in Pennsylvania. Sometimes, if the land has high ecological value, grants can be obtained by land trusts to purchase conservation easements, or pay for part of the cost of the easement. If the conservation easement is purchased, the compensation value is not tax deductible, since the owner has been paid.

3. “Bargain Sale”: Under certain conditions, the landowner may wish to sell the land, but at a lower price than it is worth. The difference between the fair market value of the land and the price actually paid for the land can be a tax deductible donation. This method is most common when the land trust is awarded a grant for part of the value of the property and the owner decides to forgo the rest of its value in order to donate it and see the land preserved.

4. Outright land donation: A property owner may choose to donate a parcel of land outright to the Conservancy. The tax deduction would then be for the full market value of the property, and the Conservancy would take ownership of the property.

Each of these methods has been used by The Manada Conservancy to preserve the lands that we currently protect. In addition, we have helped landowners become aware of other programs that might help them to preserve their property. Our goal is to help landowners preserve land using the options that are open to them in the manner that suits them best.

If you have questions, would like more information, and would like to speak to someone, please call our office at 717-566-4122. You may also write or email us.

An aerial view of Dauphin County