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Conservation easements catching on around Virginia, especially in high-growth areas Date published: 2/28/2006
By RUSTY DENNEN As Fredericksburg City Council deliberates placing a conservation easement on over 4,000 acres it owns along the Rappahannock River, tens of thousands of acres across Virginia were protected in that manner last year. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the the state's largest holder of conservation easements, added permanent legal protection on 48 tracts, totaling 41,004 acres, in 2005. In the Fredericksburg area last year, 44 parcels totaling 10,754 acres were put under easement in Culpeper, Fauquier, Louisa, Orange and Westmoreland counties. Conservation easements typically prevent or control development in perpetuity, while giving property owners a tax break. That inducement, and a growing desire to protect land from sprawl, are strong motivators, says Bob Lee, VOF executive director. "There's a very generous tax inducement," Lee said. For that, landowners give up the future development potential of often valuable land. Easement donors are eligible to take up to a $100,000 tax credit annually, and since 2002 they have been allowed to sell unused credits to others. However, the General Assembly may cap the total amount of credits that can be claimed. In addition, the Virginia Department of Taxation, the Internal Revenue Service and Congress are tightening the rules on easement holders with respect to appraisals, monitoring and enforcement. Many who seek to protect their land through conservation easements are interested in more than money. "I think there's a consciousness building up that we cannot continue to consume as much land," Lee said. Some VOF easement properties allow for limited public access or for uses such as bed-and-breakfasts and vineyards. In all, the foundation holds more than 1,900 easements, totaling 329,888 acres, in Virginia. It ranks first in acreage among public land trusts in the nation. The organization set a record in 2004, protecting 41,603 acres. In 2003 the total was 22,664 acres. Fauquier County is fertile ground for easements. Last year, 4,091 acres were protected there. To date, nearly 60,000 acres have been recorded in the county. Last year, the VOF recorded conservation easements for the first time in the Southwest Virginia counties of Lee, Smyth and Tazewell as well as the city of Lynchburg. More than 400 acres along the Rappahannock in the Celebrate Virginia development is protected by VOF easements.
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