One tool being accessed by Alberta ranchers is the conservation easement.

Landowners can place conservation easements on their property to ensure natural landscapes remain unharmed and available for agricultural use.

Every conservation easement is unique, driven by each landowner’s particular vision for a property and by the ecological or agricultural features of the land. Landowners negotiate the easement with a land trust to create a legally binding restriction on the property that stays in place in perpetuity, even as the land is sold.

Love of the land is the main motivation for placing a conservation easement on a property, according to Maureen Heffring, chair of the Foothills Land Trust. However, earning a tax break also helps in making the decision.

The tax receipt is calculated by taking the market value of the land without a conservation easement and subtracting the value with the conservation easement.

Placing an easement on land restricts development, which means developers — who usually drive land values — won’t buy it meaning the value of that land depreciates.

Landowners preparing for retirement may be considering the immediate financial impact of placing a conservation easement on their properties and the tax benefit is a significant incentive to counter the possible devaluation of the property, Heffring said.

She, and other land trust representatives, would like to see the federal government follow the Province’s initiative and recognize the ecological value of cultivated land with the same tax benefit program as ecologically sensitive land.

Pastureland with native fescue and/or land that borders water bodies, for example, is deemed ecologically sensitive. A field of alfalfa, despite being a wildlife corridor and a stopping point for migrating birds, is not.

Heffring said the difference in tax breaks makes a significant impact on a landowner’s motivation to place easements on agricultural land.

“As far as putting conservation easements on, ranchers aren’t any further aware than the tax restraints,” said Heffring. “Land is so expensive in the MD of Foothills, there has to be some financial incentive because they could subdivide it and sell it to a developer. When you give up the right to develop, financial incentive is critical.

“Most conservation easements are held on ecologically sensitive land, but the Alberta government has said agricultural land is a viable way to protect wildlife habitat, water and natural spaces.”

According to the Foothills Land Trust and Southern Alberta Land Trust Society, interest in conservation easements among foothills landowners is steady, however, both would like to see the federal government offer more tax incentives.

“There is confusion around pasture land. It’s not that (landowners) don’t want to (place easements), but they don’t know about the process,” said Heffring. “People in the agriculture business have their heads down so hard just to make ends meet, that (conservation easements) are off their radar,”

Kim Good, a director on the Foothills Land Trust board, said a conservation easement on cultivated land is rewarded with a tax break for the devaluation. It is treated like a donation, she said, meaning only 75 per cent of the tax break can be used against the landowner’s taxes. Furthermore, it has to be used in the year it was issued.

In contrast, a conservation easement on ecologically sensitive land can qualify for the federal government’s Ecological Gifts Program. The tax benefit program for an eco-gift offers a tax receipt that can be used over a five-year period, 100 per cent of the receipt can used against the landowner’s taxes and capital gains are not charged against the easement.

Heffring said increased tax benefits to conservation easements on agricultural land would help Albertans maintain the open spaces and protect the agriculture business and communities.

“Fifty thousand title holders own or use most of the settled land in Alberta for agriculture,” said Heffring. “In order for land to be conserved for wildlife habitats, the private owner is absolutely vital because the government doesn’t own the land.

“And if you want the ag industry to thrive and survive, then (the federal government) needs to understand there is a monetary incentive to conservation easements.”

Alan Gardner, executive director of the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society, said the potential financial benefits are not the only reason ranchers want to protect their land.

“Many landowners want to protect what is a very valuable asset to society — not just to themselves,” said Gardner.

Ron Rowland, for example, completed a conservation easement in the summer on 160 acres four miles west of Longview along the Highwood River.

He said the short-term devaluation is not a concern.

“My family doesn’t need the money, so we decided to keep it for grazing, for wildlife, for its view — all of which are excellent,” said Rowland.

Rowland’s property qualifies for the tax benefits under the Ecological Gifts Program. It features native fescue pastureland and riparian land along the river and wetlands.

“I feel very good about the process from the very beginning,” said Rowland. “If we could have it the way it is for another 100 years I’d be very, very pleased. There will be a lot of pressure — people want acreages and a pipeline to go through. We don’t need urban sprawl through the ranchland.”

Rowland admitted he has received mixed reactions from neighbouring property owners regarding his decision.

“They congratulate me on one side, but if you ask them if they’re going to try it, they back down because they don’t want to destroy their pension system of selling it to someone else. It becomes a financial question, ‘Can I afford to do that?’”

The Southern Alberta Land Trust Society completed three conservation easements on ranchland in 2009. The Foothills Land Trust did not complete any last year, but they worked with two landowners throughout the year to define agreements which will be completed this spring.

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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