Methods for Protecting Land

Bargain sale - purchase by the land trust at an agreed upon price that is below the fair market value of the land. The IRS considers the difference between the fair market value and the sale to be a landowner's charitable contribution and, therefore, deductible for income tax purposes. Bargain sales allow the landowner and land trust to adjust the transaction to balance the need for immediate income with longer term tax advantages. Some local trusts such as the Harford Land Trust use this technique to "preacquire" parcels that local or state government envisions as a future park, forest, wildlife area or recreational area. The land can be transferred later on to a public agency and the local land trust reimbursed.

Donated conservation easements - a voluntary and perpetual legal agreement between a property owner and a land trust which restricts the type and amount of future development. Typical provisions include restrictions on most or all residential, commercial, and industrial development, prohibitions against dumping, and requirements that landowners maintain vegetated buffer strips along waterways.

Conservation buyer transactions - the land trust purchases a property, protects it with a permanent easement, and resells it with the permanent restriction (often with a reserved right to build one house). The buyer benefits from the lower price of the restricted land. In counties with Transferable Development Rights (TDR) programs, land trusts may finance the deal by selling TDRs from the property to developers seeking greater building density in designated growth areas.

Home • Search • Our Program • Chesapeake Bay
Research  Policy • Extension Program • Marine Education • Book Store & Videos • Hot Topics

This page was last modified May 23, 2002

http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/MarineNotes/May-June99/side2.html

Accessibility Statement