The Montezuma Land Conservancy recently convened its Technical Advisory Group on Agriculture. Representatives of Montezuma County, the Farm Bureau, and the Colorado Extension Service as well as several local farmers and ranchers discussed how MLC can help agriculture remain a viable part of the local economy and culture.

One of the main points that came out of the meeting was that there needs to be a mechanism for paying farmers and ranchers for all the services they provide to the community. By keeping their property in agriculture (and out of development), farmers and ranchers protect watershed quality, wildlife habitat, archaeological sites, and scenic views — without receiving a dime in compensation.

Thanks to the state legislature and Governor Owens, however, that is no longer the case. You can now receive cash payments from the State of Colorado in exchange for keeping your property undeveloped through a conservation easement.

Owens recently signed House Bill 1348, which expands on last year's $100,000 state income tax credit for conservation easements. This new law now allows donors of conservation easements to receive the tax credit in the form of annual $20,000 cash refunds until the $100,000 has been used up. Donors are eligible for the refunds even if they do not owe the state any income tax. The refunds can only be received during years of a state budget surplus so there is some level of uncertainty to them, but at least the state has pledged to provide real dollars instead of just a credit (which isn't of much use if you don't owe any taxes).

The new law also allows conservation easement donors to sell their $100,000 credit on the open market. The Colorado Department of Revenue has yet to draft the regulations for this allowance, but MLC believes that this provision allows easement donors to receive one large check as opposed to five smaller ones (although the sale of the credit probably would not be dollar-for-dollar but perhaps 80 or 90 cents on the dollar).

Colorado is the first state in the country to implement these kinds of incentives for voluntary private land conservation. It is a bold step, and one that is sorely needed to help farmers and ranchers receive some compensation for the immeasurable services they provide all of us. MLC hopes that this initiative will help some of our local agricultural producers stay in agriculture and out of development.