1,035 acres going into conservation

1,035 acres going into conservation

Three new easements preserve farms, wildlife habitat
Standing on their family ranch, Lane, Terry, and Lyle Cox represent three generations of the Cox family. The ranch was recently put in a conservation easement to protect agricultural uses and open space.
The 335-acre Cox Ranch south of Mancos was recently put under a conservation easement with the Montezuma Land Conservancy. The land will be preserved for agricultural use and is a critical habitat corridor between Menefee and Weber Mountains, which are both BLM wilderness study areas.

1,035 acres going into conservation

Standing on their family ranch, Lane, Terry, and Lyle Cox represent three generations of the Cox family. The ranch was recently put in a conservation easement to protect agricultural uses and open space.
The 335-acre Cox Ranch south of Mancos was recently put under a conservation easement with the Montezuma Land Conservancy. The land will be preserved for agricultural use and is a critical habitat corridor between Menefee and Weber Mountains, which are both BLM wilderness study areas.
New bill expands tax credits

A new Colorado law was passed on May 6 that benefits landowners with conservation easements.
Senate Bill 206 allows a larger tax credit for easement landowners. Larger landowners can earn up to $1.5 million in Colorado tax credits in a single year. A landowner with a smaller parcel of land will get up to an additional $25,000 in tax credits to help offset the increased transaction costs.
This is a significant increase from the previous formula of 50 percent of the donated value of conservation easement up to a $375,000 credit.
The Colorado individual conservation easement tax credit formula is now 75 percent of the first $100,000 value of the donated value, and 50 percent of any remaining donation up to total credit of $1.5 million.
Tax credits from conservation easements can be sold to those who need the credits, but it has been a challenge to find them.
According to Tax Credit Connection, the bill alleviates the problem of low availability.
They explain that SB206 is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015. That means landowners will be creating more tax credits this year allowing more people to participate in the process.
Tax Credit Connection anticipates that Colorado will hit or come close to hitting the state's $45 million annual tax cap for 2015 now that SB206 has passed. In the past four years, the largest quantity of tax credits was $27 million.