The Nature Conservancy in Colorado - Conservation Easement Q&A

Brian McPeek is the Deputy State Director of The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. He oversees the Conservancy’s community-based work in 12 Colorado landscapes, as well as statewide science, land conservation, forest health, water and public policy initiatives. McPeek has been instrumental in creating conservation partnerships with an array of non-traditional partners including Department of Defense, private investors, and the ranching community.

More Information on Conservation Easements

General fact sheet (.pdf, 248 kb)
Private lands conservation options

Across Colorado, the Conservancy is Conserving Lands through Easements

Laughlin Gulch
Smith Ranch
Red Top Ranch

Quote by Catherine Roberts, easement donor

Q: What is a conservation easement?

Brian McPeek: Conservation easements are powerful tools that are extremely important in the conservation of private lands. Through easements millions of acres of wildlife habitat have been protected across the United States. Conservation easements are voluntary agreements placed on land to protect its ecological or open space values. They limit certain uses and prevent development.

Q: Why are easements important?

Brian McPeek: Every hour 10 acres of open space and agricultural land are developed jeopardizing the natural values that make Colorado such a special place. Easements keep more land in agriculture and conserve wildlife habitat and open space.

An excellent example of the power that conservation easements can bring to an important, large-scale landscape is the “Mountains to Plains” project taking place in the heart of the Laramie Foothills. Working with state and local partners, we have protected 60,000 acres across 15 working ranches to preserve a 22 mile connection between the prairie habitat of the Pawnee National Grasslands and the mountain forests of the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest. The crown jewel of this effort is the conservation easement on the Roberts Ranch. Golden eagles, pronghorn, Rocky Mountain elk, black bear, mountain lion, bobcat and numerous songbirds dwell here among a sea of majestic grasslands.

There are hundreds of strong conservation easements around Colorado that have conserved farms and ranchland, scenic and historic areas, wildlife habitat, and unique natural areas that otherwise could have been lost forever to development.

At the Conservancy we are seeing a trend of greater numbers of farmers and ranchers throughout the West using conservation easements as a way to protect the open space that rural ways of life depend on. Easements keep land in private ownership and preserve traditional land uses. They are used for the good of the land, the community and our collective future.

Q: How do easements work?

Brian McPeek: Easements are either voluntarily sold or donated by a landowner and are legally binding documents that limit certain type of use or development in perpetuity. They protect the natural values of land for future generations while allowing owners to retain property rights and continue to live on and use their property..

Q: What is the Conservancy doing about the IRS Audits?

Brian McPeek: We are working closely with the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts, which represents Colorado’s entire land trust community, and both U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard who strongly support the use of conservation easements. Both Senators have expressed concerns that the IRS may be casting too wide a net in Colorado. Here's what they had to say:

“While I support investigation and enforcement of legitimate fraud, we must not target honest taxpayers, and Colorado's reputation should not be tarnished. There is a significant need for conservation easements in Colorado, and a few abuses should not end the charitable tax credit for everyone.”
--Senator Allard at March 28, 2007 Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services hearing

“Many of the 250 transactions now being audited by the IRS have already been approved by USDA and a host of state agencies in Colorado with extensive experience in valuing conservation easements. I would encourage the Service to focus its attention on the 70 or so transactions that are of questionable value.”
--Dec. 19, 2006 letter from Sen. Salazar to IRS

Q: What is the Tax Credit Task Force and is the Conservancy participating?

Brain McPeek: Colorado has one of the best tax incentives in the country for landowners who donate a conservation easement. This has provided huge land-preservation benefits to Colorado and has made Colorado a national leader in conserving its natural areas. However, this program also may have attracted a small handful of promoters who don’t share the values of the national and state land conservation communities and may be abusing the program.

To improve the program and address potential abuses, State Representative Alice Madden convened a Tax Credit Tax Force to make recommendations that will address unwanted fraud while allowing legitimate participants, and the state of Colorado, to continue to benefit from the program. The Conservancy has played a leadership role in creating the Task Force and is fully participating in developing recommendations that prevent abuse to the program while preserving its incredible value in helping to conserve land in Colorado.

The Conservancy is also working with the Governor’s Office and regulatory agencies to address potential abuses of this program. Conservation easements are a critically important tool to preserve endangered land. The land trust community is committed to working with state and federal officials to eliminate abuses and strengthen the conservation easement program in Colorado and across the nation.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Harold E. Malde (Roberts Ranch); Photo © Joshua Lawton (Brian McPeek); Photo © TNC (Catherine Roberts).