Recent changes to federal estate tax law, enacted as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, provide an additional incentive for landowners to grant conservation easements. Executors can elect to exclude 40 percent of the value of land subject to a donated qualified conservation easement from the taxable estate. This exclusion will be phased in over a five-year period. The full benefit offered by the new law is available for easements that reduce the fair market value of a property by at least 30 percent. Smaller deductions are available for easements that reduce property value by less than 30 percent.
Every state has a law pertaining to conservation easements.
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted the Uniform Conservation Easement Act in 1981. Accepting donated conservation easements is one of the major activities of land trusts. Land trusts exist in all 50 states. They monitor and enforce the terms of easements. Some also purchase conservation easements.