News

Conservation Options for Landowners, 9/07

You own land that is open space and you want to preserve the beauty and feel of this open space… how do you do it? There are two basic ways to preserve and protect open space in perpetuity. One is a Land Donation (a fee title transfer) to the HNCLT. With this transfer of title, the HNCLT owns and maintains the land. The second option is to grant the Land Trust a Conservation Easement. With a Conservation Easement, the family continues to own and maintain the land but gives up the development rights.

Within both options, there are several different ways to proceed to the goal of preserving open space. Both Land donation and Conservation Easements provide tax strategies that will often serve to benefit your family. It is important to meet with an attorney and or tax specialist to determine the exact tax benefit in each situation. Often the total value of the gift is tax deductible whether against income tax, capital gains or in an estate plan.

(Land Trust Alliance) If you own land with important natural or historic resources, donating a voluntary conservation easement can be one of the smartest ways to conserve the land you love and protect America’s natural heritage, while maintaining your private property rights and possibly realizing significant federal tax benefits.

On August 3, 2006, Congress approved a tremendous expansion of the federal conservation tax incentive for conservation easement donations. On August 17, 2006 the President signed it into law. This was a great victory for conservation! Efforts are now under way to make these changes a permanent part of the tax code. Senate bill S. 469 has been introduced by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) that would make the new tax incentive permanent. Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Dave Camp (R-MI) introduced H.R. 1576, which parallels the Senate bill. President Bush has also endorsed making the new tax incentive permanent in his fiscal year 2008 budget. If these expanded tax incentives are made permanent family farmers, ranchers, and other moderate-income landowners will be able to conserve the land they love while obtaining a significant tax benefit for making the charitable donation of a conservation easement. For further information and suggested reading about the new legislation and what you can do to help, please go to the Land Trust Alliance Web site, www.lta.org. You can contact HNCLT at (707)677-0716 or info@hnclt.org.

Strategic Planning, 9/07

Saunders' Memorial Park, 9/07

The Humboldt North Coast Land Trust and the Trinidad Museum Society signed a historic agreement on April 5, 2007 for a 99 year lease of the museum building located in Saunders' Memorial Park in Trinidad. This is the first project to go forward on the property that the Humboldt North Coast Land Trust holds for the community. The Trinidad Museum Society moved the historic Sangster House to the property in October 2006 and has been working to get it refurbished in order to house an expanded museum. Future projects on the property include a park with a bocce ball court, gazebo and walking track, a new building for the Trinidad Branch of the Humboldt County Library, as well as a native plant garden. The signing of this lease is a milestone in the process of getting the vision of these community facilities accomplished.

Many Tasks, Many Talents, 9/07

Each year with the arrival of spring heralds a flurry of activity for the Humboldt North Coast Land Trust. Trustees head out to each of the 20 properties covering more than 50 acres to conduct annual inspections. Site clean-ups are the norm, and observations on property condition and necessary remediation are added to the file (and to the To Do List) with the annual property reports. These activities, while vital to the operation for the Humboldt North Coast Land Trust (HNCLT)) do not begin to encompass all of the many “stewardship” roles and responsibilities filled by volunteers and trustees. Given the breadth of tasks that present themselves in any given year, we are fortunate to have deep reserves of diverse skills to draw upon. Here are just a few examples of the many stewardship talents’ brought to our efforts this year: Vice President Gail Kenny has work diligently this past year both on the Saunders Park Project and many other Land Trust issues. Notably she spearheaded the active pursuit of our newest property acquisitions at Martin Creek. She has shepherded our deliberations and decisions regarding new open space opportunities. Treasurer Ned Simmons has used his leadership to build bridges in our community, to foster growth and collaboration on the Saunders Park/Trinidad Museum and Library Project. He in instrumental in helping the Land Trust to become more active stewards of it’sown proud history as an organization. Ned h as prudently managing our investments for the future. Beverly has come on board as a strong Secretary for the Land Trust. She has given many hours to keep our meeting records in order as well as doing research, proposing and develop new policy and procedures regarding maintenance of current holdings. A dynamic crew under the leadership of Trustees Gail Ward and John Calkins used their considerable skills as craftsman to design and rebuild by hand the trail down to Houda Point, making a path on one of our properties safer and more accessible. And Trustees Don Allan, Ben Morehead and Matt Malkus have worked to protect the treasured scenic, natural and agricultural landscapes of Humboldt County, through decision making, management, policy planning and implementation, while keeping in mind our shared mission. A big thank you to all for so many hours volunteered for our community! Kathleen Lake HNCLT President

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