Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2807, the Conservation Easement Incentive Act. This important legislation would make the current tax deduction for the contribution of conservation easements permanent, affording landowners the stability and certainty needed to complete the long term planning necessary for either continued agricultural production or conservation work. Since being signed into law in 2006, the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easements has boosted donations of conservation easements by a third--to a total of over a million acres a year.
The Hudson Valley is a national treasure that must be preserved, and we owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect the places New Yorkers cherish and depend on. In the Hudson Valley, a landowner in my district is struggling to preserve his thirty five acre homestead, which he has lived on for over 40 years. The land dates back to the original family farmsteads and orchards that have dotted the Hudson Valley for generations. Many of those farmsteads have since been sold to developers, but not his. The parcel of land he is fighting to protect and preserve is not only precious in its heritage and conservation value, but in its current use as a trail, which connects several larger land preserves in the region. While he would like to donate a conservation easement and receive the much needed tax deduction, there is considerable financial pressure on him to sell the land to developers. If that happens--the land is lost. And as my friend and President of the Westchester Land Trust, Lori Ensinger, put it--when the land is lost, it's lost for good.
We must balance economic development with protecting the land for preservation and outdoor recreation. Rather than being forced to sell to developers, conservation easement tax incentives allow farmers and landowners the choice to maintain working lands for agriculture or to protect more land for wildlife protection and outdoor recreation. In the Hudson Valley conservation easements have a tremendously positive impact, boosting regional economies while protecting some of America's most important natural sites for future generations.
While we have been successful in protecting thousands of acres over the last ten years all across the Hudson Valley, our work is not done. Passing the Conservation Easement Incentive Act is about more than just environmental preservation it is about regional economies, businesses and jobs. Without the conservation easement tax incentives, landowners may be forced to divide or sell their property to developers; losing the land, its heritage and economic benefits for good.