Increasing the Tax Incentives for Conservation Easement Donations

This article undertakes a critical analysis of the tax incentives that encourage the donation of conservation easements and the proposals to increase them. It concludes that a responsible approach to increasing the tax incentives is called for: Congress should increase the incentives only if some assurance can be had that the increase will be efficient, that land trusts and government agencies have the expertise and resources to appropriately screen and steward the anticipated additional easements, and that the increase will not encourage exploitation and abuse.