Overview of Program
Since its founding in 1981, Shirley Heinze Land Trust has acquired for preservation
more than 1,200 acres of precious natural land in the Northwest Indiana counties
of Lake, Porter, and LaPorte. These holdings cover the entire spectrum of natural
communities in this region, and they include five properties that have been dedicated
to the people of Indiana as state nature preserves. Shirley Heinze works closely
with other public and private land preservation entities to maximize the benefit
to local biodiversity. It supports the use of partnerships to fulfill its mission,
and it is a leading force in regional planning efforts to promote land conservation
and improve the quality of life for local residents.
Recent Accomplishments
Over the past several years, Shirley Heinze Land Trust has acquired – via purchase,
donation, or tax sale – key additions to the following nature preserves:
- Ambler Flatwoods – five additions totaling 150 acres, increasing holdings to 350
acres.
- John Merle Coulter Preserve – three additions totaling 10 acres, increasing holdings
to 92 acres.
- Little Calumet Wetlands Project – two parcels totaling 42 acres.
- Cressmoor Prairie – one 3.5-acre addition.
- Ivanhoe South Preserve – several dune-and-swale lots.
- Great Marsh – several wetland lots.
Conservations Options for Land Owners
How To Conserve Your Land
When you’re ready to conserve your land, you can turn to land trusts—nonprofit organizations
that work with landowners interested in protecting open space. Shirley Heinze Land
Trust operates in the Indiana Counties of Lake, Porter, and LaPorte, primarily in
the Lake Michigan watershed. To find a land trust in your area, consult the Land
Trust Alliance website http://findalandtrust.org.
Conservation Easements
The most traditional tool for conserving private land, a “conservation easement”
(also known as a conservation restriction), is a legal agreement between a landowner
and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in
order to protect its conservation values. It allows landowners to continue to own
and use their land, and they can also sell it or pass it on to heirs.
When you donate a conservation easement to a land trust, you give up some of the
rights associated with the land. For example, you might give up the right to build
additional structures, while retaining the right to grow crops. Future owners also
will be bound by the easement’s terms. The land trust is responsible for making
sure the easement’s terms are followed. This is managed through “stewardship” by
the land trust.
Conservation easements offer great flexibility. An easement on property containing
rare wildlife habitat might prohibit any development, for example, while an easement
on a farm might allow continued farming and the addition of agricultural structures.
An easement may apply to all or a portion of the property, and need not require
public access.
Qualifying For A Tax Deduction: A landowner sometimes sells a conservation easement,
but usually easements are donated to a land trust. If the donation benefits the
public by permanently protecting important conservation resources, and meets other
federal tax code requirements, it can qualify as a tax-deductible charitable donation.
Easement values vary greatly; in general, the highest easement values result from
very restrictive conservation easements on tracts of developable open space under
intense development pressure. In some jurisdictions, placing an easement on your
property may also result in property tax savings.
Reducing Estate Taxes: Perhaps the most important benefit, a conservation easement
can be essential for passing undeveloped land on to the next generation. By removing
the land’s development potential, the easement typically lowers the property’s market
value, which in turn lowers potential estate tax. Whether the easement is donated
during life or by will, it can make a critical difference in one’s heirs’ ability
to keep the land intact.
Resale of Land
If you need to sell your land but don’t want to see it destroyed by development,
a land trust can help. Prior to the sale, you can work with your local land trust
to place a conservation easement on the land before it goes on the market. Some
land trusts can also help identify potential buyers for conserved lands.
Donation of Land for Conservation
Donating land for conservation is one of the finest legacies a person can leave
to future generations. If you choose to donate your land, your land trust can work
with you to identify the best arrangement. The land trust might retain ownership
of the property as a permanent preserve or transfer the property to a suitable owner,
such as a government agency. In some cases, the land is sold to a private owner,
subject to a conservation easement held by the land trust. (Proceeds from such a
sale could fund the land trust’s long-term management of the conservation easement
and/or help it to protect even more land.) The full market value of land donated
to a nonprofit land trust is tax deductible as a charitable gift.
Bargain Sale
In a bargain sale, you sell your land to a land trust for less than its fair market
value. This not only makes it more affordable for the land trust, but offers several
benefits to you: it provides cash, avoids some capital gains tax, and entitles you
to a charitable income tax deduction based on the difference between the land’s
fair market value and its sale price.
Donation with a Lifetime Income
If you have land you would like to protect by donating it to a land trust, but you
need to receive income during your lifetime, consider a charitable gift annuity
or a charitable remainder unitrust. Charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder
unitrusts are most useful for highly appreciated land, the sale of which would incur
high capital gains tax.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on land conservation options, contact Shirley
Heinze Land Trust. When considering any of the possibilities described above, landowners
should consult with their personal attorneys and financial advisors.
NOTE: The above information was developed from materials made available
by the Land Trust Alliance.