Winter 2008 Valley Trust Newsletter, Three Valley Conservation Trust

8/9/2019 Winter 2008 Valley Trust Newsletter, Three Valley Conservation Trust

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Valley Trust

NEWS

Valley Trust News,

the newsletter for members of the

Three Valley Conservation Trust, is

published four times per year.

Editor:

Mary Glasmeier

Number 34 / WINTER 2008 Conserving the natural environment and cultural heritage of Southwest Ohio

Calendar

JANUARY

2 Board Meeting, 7 pm, TVCT

21 Martin Luther King Day

FEBRUARY

6 Board Meeting, 7 pm, TVCT9 AnnualMeeting,6:00pm MarcumConferenceCenter, Oxford,Ohio

18 Presidents Day23 Adopt-A-Highway Pickup,

10 am, callTom at 756-9707

MARCH

5 Board Meeting, 7 pm, TVCT

IndexAnnual Meeting .................... 1

Let Me be Frank ...................... 2

Board of Trustees .................... 2Last Chance at $125 Heron ..... 2

From the Desk of Larry........... 3

Global Warming & Easements 4

Snapshot 1: Ann Geddes ........ 5

Ray Arlinghaus Appointed ...... 6

Art Auction Review ................ 6

Developing News ................... 7

Snapshot 2: Howard DuBois ... 8

Return of the Bobcat ............... 9

Extension of Tax Incentive .. 10

Clean Ohio Fund Jeopardy.. 11Membership Form ............... 11

Property Tax Legislation ....... 12

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: RUSS SHAY, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICYTHE LAND TRUST ALLIANCE, WASHINGTON DC

PRESENTATION OF: THE WALLACE I. EDWARDS CONSERVATIONIST AWARD

EASEMENT DONOR STORIES

MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT:STANDARD FARE

$18 PER PERSON CASH BAR DINNER SERVED AT 6:45 PM

RSVP to 524-2150 by 5:00 pm on Monday, February 4, 2008

DIRECTIONS TO MARCUM CENTER, 351 N. Fisher Drive, Oford:

Three Valley Conservation Trust2007

Annual MeetingSaturday, February 9, 20086:00 - 9:00 pmMarcum Conference Center

Miami University, Oford, Ohio

FROM THE NORTH: Rt. 177 south to Rt. 73west. At the light, turn right onto PattersonAve. At the four-way stop (Patterson &High Sts.), Turn right (N. Fisher Drive). Followthe signs to the Marcum Center.

FROM THE SOUTH: Rt. 27 north to Oford.Rt. 27 becomes Patterson Ave. At thefour-way stop (Patterson & High Sts.), Turnright (N. Fisher Drive). Follow the signs to theMarcum Center.

27 New

Easements

in 2007!

Frank House and

Fred Glander break

from touring Freds

newly protected

170-acre Preble

County property

on Twin Creek.


2/122 www.3vct.org Valley Trust NewS

LetMe

BeFrank

Frank HouseChair, Board of Trustees

GREGORY PECK

MARY MOORE

JERRY STANLEY

J. RONALD STEWART

DON STREIT

TOM WISSING

LIZ WOEDL

Founded in 1994, the Three Valley Conservation Trust works

with people and communities to conserve the natural environ-

ment and cultural heritage in Southwest Ohio. The Trust protects

open space and farmland by acquiring, through gift or purchase,

conservation and agricultural easements, and works to pro-

tect and improve water quality in the western tributaries of the

Great Miami River.

John Ruthven

Three Valley Great Blue Heron

Limited EDITION

100 Signed & Numbered Prints

created for TVCT ONLY

John Ruthvens Three Valley Great Blue Heron limited

edition print was created exclusively for Three Valley

Conservation Trust. The 100 prints will dramatically

increase in value due to their exclusivity.

This is your last chance,as a member,

to acquire it at the $125.00 pricebefore the sale goes public.

$125.00until April 15, 2008

Cash, Checks, Visa or MC accepted.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

RAY ARLINGHAUS

MARGARETTE BECKWITH

JON COSTANZO

FRANK HANK DUPPS

SAM FITTON

CATHERINE HOLLINS

FRANK HOUSE

BEN JONES

Happy New Year! We have seen many successesin the past year, especially in this last quarter andIm happy to announce that we are now at 9000acres protected with an additional 1400 acres undercontract.

Ironing out all of these agreements, submittingnew applications, negotiating new deals, andmonitoring our existing easements clearly has beenexhausting for our staff, Board, and volunteers

alike. We have spent a great deal of time as a Boardhelping to move the organization toward greater

accountability and meeting new industry standardsfor documentation of achievements. The staff andBoard of the Trust welcome your ideas and energy!

The Trust will soon have new leadership and boardmembers, including the newly appointed retiredProcter and Gamble executive Ray Arlinghaus,

taking the place of the already missed PublicInformation Chair Michele Simmons who receiveda promotion that limits her time. We will also soon

miss Jon Costanzo and Tom Wissing from the Boardof Trustees. We are grateful for their continuingefforts on behalf of land conservation and the Trust.

Frank

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

# of easements

stream miles

TVCT Acs Potctd


3/12WINTER 2008 www.3vct.org 3

Happy New Year! Whew! Just when we had hoped thepace would level off, a tidal wave of conservation-minded

farmers/landowners appeared over the phone, in the ofce,

through the internet, and at meetings. At the last Annual

Meeting, we spoke about the tax incentives that would

expire in 2007 and the impact that may have on generating

momentum for easement donations. Interest, especially in

donated easements, exceeded our expectations, and strained

our resources to keep up.

Last year, the 150-200 landowner contacts and 100+

serious easement requests (highlighted, of course, by

nearly 60 requests for government funding such as the

farmland preservation programs) constituted a groundswell.

So, instead of protecting 15 properties as we had hoped,

we helped landowners preserve 27 through conservation

easements and two more through purchase by Metro Parks.

The 3583 easement acres plus 600 acres that TVCT helped

the park districts acquire turned into an avalanche. Who

would have expected to close on 11 properties in December

alone? Indeed, we still have commitments to nearly twenty

landowners awaiting our assistance and/or government

processing to bring us from 9000 acres to over 10,000 acres

preserved, and from 71 easements today to something short

of 100 this time next year.

The amazing work by our volunteer easement monitoring/

stewardship coordinator Lois Nelson and our volunteer

monitors, led by Sam Fitton and Tom Wissing, permitted

the Trust to keep up with the demand of monitoring every

property, regularize procedures, improve our mapping, and

produce baseline and present condition reports for every

property to be protected. The Trust was able to gather

sufcient data to calculate the hours and dollars it costs

us to monitor each easement every year. The $400 per

easement/yr average does not include legally defending

the easement from attack, nor does it pay for my timeto verify, help negotiate, and help identify resources to

permit landowners to obtain what they need to complete

the transactions. So, the Board recognized that, like almost

every land trust in the Nation, additional requirements and

details to document easement compliance and establish true

conservation values was much more time-consuming than

rst anticipated. Thus, a shortfall in the Trusts endowment

programs, and questions about, why was so and so only

expected to voluntarily contribute x amount instead of the

amount you are now expecting me to contribute.

From the Desk of...

LarryFrimermanExECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Yet, if we charged for service as ifwe were consultants, our services

would be expensive, and perhaps would serve as an entry

barrier to the world of land protection for easement donors.

We dont charge a fee, and we do not get a cut of the

pass-through monies distributed to landowners. If you are

an easement donor, it may be that we will continue to seek

endowment funds to get to the plateau where we can afford

to hire a paid monitoring coordinator to meet near-term

monitoring obligations.

However, the Trust is now in a position where we must

place people interested in protecting their farms into a

queue based upon a transparent set of criteria, and upon

meeting current obligations and new strategic conservation

priorities. We will be asking the community for its

participation in effectively identifying conservation priority

areas and plans to achieve them.

On the nancial side, many of you dug deeply into your

checkbooks to increase your commitment to the Trust.

Your contributions have made a difference. However,

our revenues have declined despite our successes. So,

please recruit your friends and neighbors to join the Trust.

We will also be reaching out to government and business

community partners for funding.

My personal goal is to do fewer easements, and trying to

achieve a little more personal balance. So, lets visit! Tell

us what you like, what you would like to see, and how

you may wish to participate! Please accept our sincere

appreciation for your support and involvement in 2007.

We look forward to partnering with you in 2008! z


4/124 www.3vct.org Valley Trust New

What Has AnEasement DoneFor You Lately?

quickly (if burned) or slowly (by decay) or delayed or

sequestered (if the tree falls in a deep bog it wont be re-

leased until dug up as coal and burned). Green spaces are

natural repositories for carbon because they are natural

habitats for plants. Trees, for example, are 50% carbon.Release of this carbon by global deforestation is why it

is so devastating to the environment annually 1-2 bil-

lion metric tons released. So mature forests are bulwarks

against climate change, storing up to 200 tons or more

of carbon/acre! And in every conservation and agricul-

tural easement signed with this Trust, no forest can be

removed, and virtually all embrace the reversion of any

crop or farm land to forest.

But other plants have a role also. Native perennial prairie

plants, especially, serve a beneficial function. Besides

being hosts of endangered creatures (and also stunninglygorgeous), the root system of prairie plants dwarf the

above-ground part by a factor of 3-10. This means that

the bulk of the plant (the bulk of its carbon) is below

ground, sequestered year after year unless disturbed. Just

in our local counties, it is estimated that 1-2 thousand

acres of native prairie have been planted, much on ease-

ment land, with each acre sequestering up to 40 or more

tons/acre.

And annual cropland, while not as extensive a carbon

sink as a prairie or forest because its stem and root are

removed each year, nevertheless retains a mean level of

carbon in soils of approximately 24 tons/acre. Reduced

tillage (or no-till) soils average more because the soil

carbon is not turned over and released to the atmosphere

All agricultural easements held by the Trust espouse

these conservation tillage practices.

So while easements may be a local phenomena, along

this creek or that road, the impacts that easements have

are far from local. Fostering the expansion of easements

is not just a good thing for your neighborhood - it may be

part of the global solution to climate change. z

I occasionally hear it said that it sure is nice that

folks are doing conservation easements it enhanc-

es the scenic view ofothersneighborhoods, and

produces butterflies forothers to see, but around

them there are no easements. So why should they

support the Trust in their effort to enroll easements

when easements arent happening in their neigh-

borhood? I think there are a number of ways to

look at this question.

One is perhaps it means you have the golden opportunity to

initiate cation to get one or more easements done in your area!It all starts with people deciding to put an effort into making

it happen. An easement is the ultimate grassroots effort the

landowner drives the process; the Trust is there to facilitate.

Second, we are all aware by now of the many benefits of

green space, forests, etc. Also to be considered are the ben-

efits of undeveloped land for surrounding developments, the

cities and suburbs. Green spaces historically have been her-

alded for a number of their environmental benefits. Programs

such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the largest

government program targeting land use, are primarily aimed

to prevent soil erosion and nutrient runoff, and protect water

systems. Weve had many years of practice in estimating the

value of green spaces as preserved by the CRP program. Prior

to CRP, the USDA reported the Cornbelt as losing an average

of 16 tons of soil/acre/year. In this same area after CRP, 6.5

fewer tons of soil/acre/yr were lost annually to water erosion,

and nitrogen and phosphorous loss were virtually eliminated

along with soil loss to wind erosion which previously amount-

ed to 10 tons/acre. With that was a reduction in particu-

lates that could serve as carriers for asthma-causing chemi-

cals, reduced contamination of downstream municipal and

private water wells, mitigation of flooding as organic soils

soaked up stormwater like a sponge - all benefits to the peoplewho live distant from the green spaces. This we all knew even

though we sometimes forgot to sufficiently appreciate it.

But now theres another way of looking at this question about

the value of easements. The global climate crisis. Greenhouse

gases emitted into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide

from cars or coal plants, trap the suns heat and escalate the

temperature. The carbon cycle that we all learned in school

instructed us that plants take up carbon dioxide and store the

carbon from that molecule in the stem and roots. When the

plant dies that carbon can be released back as carbon dioxide

submitted by Ann Geddes



Re-printed with permission from the Hamilton Journal News

by Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer

OXFORD With development spreading across Butler

County, Ann Geddes wants her 100-acre farm in Reily Twp. to

forever look the same as it did when her house was built beforethe Civil War. She and other landowners recently donated or

sold their properties development rights to the Three Valley

Conservation Trust, creating a roughly 520-acre swath of farms

and wilderness along Indian Creek Preserve.

This will help protect Indian Creek, a 22-mile stream that starts

in Indiana and feeds the Great Miami River, according to Larry

Frimerman, the conservation trusts executive director.

The easements allow the donors to live on the property, but

limit building, ensuring that some land along the creek never

sprouts subdivisions and strip malls, Frimerman said.

Other recently signed easements, including 100 more acres in

Butler County and 433-acres in Preble County, will protect the

Snapshots! People & their landSnapshots! People & Their Land provides stories of the people and the lands they protect. We hope that you will enjoy getting to

know a little about your neighbors.

Each purchase made with your Kroger card provides a

4% rebATe to TVCT!

Call 513-524-2150 to gt

you Free Kog cad!

Use your card regularly! Make it a habit!

Snapshot 1:

Farm Owners MoveHelps ProtectIndian Creek

watersheds of Four Mile Creek, Twin Creek and Seven

Mile Creek.

The majority of these easements were donated, but many were

purchased at a discount price, Frimerman said with helpfrom a $655,000 federal grant.

Geddes neighbor farms about half of her property, though

shes already started converting the land back to its original

state. Shes also restoring her 1840s home, and another that

abuts a historic cemetery, she said, hoping the whole area

some day becomes a public park.

She wants this to be her legacy.

The land is being essentially consumed by

development (and) is being overrun by concrete,

Geddes said. There needs to be someplace where

the air can renew itself, and the water, and habitat for

animals.

I think its something humans need, she said.z

Contact this reporter at [email protected]

(Snapshots continued on page 8)

Ann Geddes kneels next to an Illinois bundle ower, a native prairie ower

indigenous to Ohio, on Dec. 6 on her 100-acre plot near Oxford that she

turned into a conservation easement several years ago.

Photo re-printed with permission from J-N photographer Gary Stelzer



Over one hundred

fifty people attended

the first ever

MasterWorks for

Nature Art Auction at

BeauVerre Art Studios

in Middletown,

on the evening of

November 10, 2007.

Internationally-known

artist Chris Walden,

with assistancefrom Linda and

Jay Moorman, was

instrumental in planning

and organizing the event, which earned approximately

$26,000 for the Trust.

While enjoying excellent cuisine provided by Two Women

in a Kitchen, attendees watched local nature artists provide

finishing touches to paintings, and placed bids in the silent

auction. Participating artists included Chris Walden, John

Ruthven, John Agnew, Mary Louise Holt, Katy Jo South,

DeVere Burt, Linda Howard Bittner, Nancy Foureman, AnnGeise, and Andrea Grimsley.

As usual, the live

auction was enlivened

by commentary from

auctioneer Doug Ross,

who was assisted behind

the scenes by friends of

the Trust. Among the

impressive items up for

bidding were a magnolia

and wisteria stained glass

window, by BeauVerre-

Riordan studios; several

hand-made Persian rugs;

a six-night stay in the

Columbia River gorge;

John Ruthvens rendering

of Wood Duck; and

Chris Waldens Heron

Creek.

Art Auction:All AroundGood Timesubmitted by Dr. Alice Kahn

DeVere Burt at work on aquick nish prior to thecommencement of the auction.

Ray Arlinghaus joined the Three Valley Conservation

Trust several years ago as a member, and has increasingly

become more active as a volunteer. He was recently

appointed to complete the term of a vacated position on

the Board and is serving as vice chair of the Development

Committee.

Ray is a native of southwest Ohio, served in the U.S. Air

Force and graduated from Xavier University. His 34-

year career at Procter & Gamble included a wide range

of nance and accounting assignments throughout the

company. He retired in 2001, as Director of GlobalFinancial reporting.

Both Ray and his wife Judy grew up in families with

farming ties, and have a strong love for the land, for

farming, and our natural surroundings. They moved from

Hamilton County to their Ross Township farm in 1990 and

have established a small, but thriving, specialty produce

operation that raises vegetables, cut owers and peaches

that are sold wholesale to local orists and farm markets.

It gives us great satisfaction, said Ray, to be able to

market high quality, truly home-grown, produce and

owers, and see the smiles it brings to the faces of localconsumers.

Their three children, Paul, Mark and Lori all grew up

engaged in family farming operations, and have a strong

love of nature and outdoor activities rock and ice

climbing, camping, hiking, skiing and mountain biking.

While all three have chosen to be engineers, and have

followed their careers to Minnesota, Tennessee, and

northern Indiana, they (and the grand kids) all return

home to the farm and the beautiful view of the Indian

Creek Valley whenever they can.

Ray and Judy have a long history of active involvementin a wide range of conservation, educational, youth and

church-oriented organizations, and strongly

believe that just one person can make a

difference. Ray summed up his

view of the Three Valley Trust as

once you understand what the

Trust does, how could you not

want to be involved its just

simply too important to stand on

the sidelines.z

Ray ArlinghausAppointed toComplete TVCT

Board Term

Auctioneer Doug Ross

(Continued on page 7)



Developing Newsfrom Lawrence Leahy,Development Director

This past year was full of many successes at the Trust and

we are planning to continue and build upon many of them

in 2008. Our Preble County Pig Roast was enjoyed so much

by all, so we denitely will have a similar event this year.

The Art Auction was a very special event and let us begin to

introduce the Trust to our Middletown neighbors. Our ever

popular Protected Land Tours will take place this year after

having a years hiatus.

A new approach to helping support our special events is

the Benefactor program. Miller Brewing and Duke Energy,

along with the Dupps Company, Financial Clarity Group,

Thomas Sargero & Heron Creek Farm, Think Patented, and

Wild Berry Incense were also Corporate Benefactors for our

November Art Auction. One of our major goals for 2008 isto continue to develop relationships and collaboration with

businesses and corporations who support land protection and

the type of work done by the Trust.

Though special events are a wonderful way for us to earn

recognition and for members to become acquainted, we also

have been busy seeking grants to help defray expenses. In

November the Trust received a grant from Miller Brew-

ing Company that was designated to assist with the costs of

hiring an intern to do the GIS work necessary for monitor-

ing our protected properties. We are very happy to have this

support from Miller and are optimistic that this collabora-tion can continue and grow in the future. Duke Energy, the

Oxford Community Foundation,

and the Elizabeth Wakeman

Henderson Charitable Founda-

tion continued their long time

support of the Trust by providing

grants in 2007. Additionally, the Middletown Community

Foundation provided a grant to the Trust for the rst time

As we implement our development activities and special

events in 2008, we will continue to seek the support of

our members. If you would like to assist us by volun-

teering some time, expertise, or advice, please contact

Catherine Hollins or myself. Some examples of the type

of assistance that would be of great help are: answer-

ing the ofce phone for 1-2 hours once or twice a week;folding letters or materials that are mailed out to our

members; becoming involved in the planning and imple-

mentation of our special events; or assisting with writing

grant proposals. As we continue to grow and take on new

challenges, the valuable time and assistance provided by

volunteers will be vital to our success. There is a variety

of volunteer work available so please contact us if you

may be interested.

In our next Newsletter, we will let you know our 2008

calendar for the exciting and new special events that we

have planned!z

If you missed this auction you missed some wonderful

bargains, a chance to explore the historic building that

is now BeauVerre Art Studios, an opportunity to interact

with local artists, excellent food and wine, and an all-

around good time.z

ArtAuction(continued from page 6)

Above: Bidders enjoy the

lively auction.

Left: Lawrence and Natalya

Leahy with Ernst Bever .

Left: Soft ute music set the

mood for a lovely evening.



would buy the entire tract and sell off

one-half to the other. It worked. And

fortunately, Reinhart, who bought the

southern half, has preserved his partwith Miami and DuBois has now

preserved almost all of his half with

Three Valley Conservation Trust.

This is a wonderful example of how

working with your neighbors can do

so much more for preserving natural

lands than working against them.

DuBois property also exemplies how it can be that a large part

of any property can be preserved under perpetual easement but

some small residential parts can be separated out for maximum

exibility to the owners such as his homestead, his daughterDebras home, and granddaughter Megans in the stone cottage.

Easements are written by the landowner to suit their needs as

long as the requirements of the preservation of conservation

values are maintained.

On this January day, stepping into the DuBois home, there were

lush plants, pictures of the family, the children, the grandchildren,

the wildlife prints on the wall, the birdfeeders on the deck

stacked with hungry goldnches, and remnants of Christmas

revels. But Christmas has been forever burdened with sadness,

as his wife Gwyneth died on Christmas Day 3 years ago. The

loss of Gwyn, who always served as a guiding voice for action,was a catalyst, Howard says, for putting the property under

easement. At 83, Howard says, I wanted to do this while I was

still around. Wally Edwards had patiently talked to me many

times before to do this, and now, if hes looking down, I do hope

hes pleased.

Well, were sure the Oxford community is pleased because of

your generosity, Howard, to preserve this park-like nature haven

on Bonham and Oxford-Milford Roads that will be a delight for

your progeny and generations after.z

Snapshot 2:

The DuBois Property:of the Woodsin butler COUNTY

submitted by Ann Geddes

Anyone who has driven down Oxfords High Street knows

the name DuBois from the DuBois bookstore prominent on

the northwest edge of Miamis campus. Howard DuBois

father had bought the

original bookstore

on High St. (next to

Snyders) 60 years ago

and although Howard

was in the merchant

marine, he came

back to take a job that

resulted in his running

the business for many

years.

Hes now 83, retired,

and labels himself

a procrastinator. He

recalls how he and his

wife, Gwyneth, had bought their beautiful wooded property

on Bonham Rd. and the original house had burned. They

moved into apartments for 2 years trying to decide what to

do to move to another location or rebuild. Then his wife

took matters into her own hands and set up appointments to

visit subdivision homes, and that was the spark needed for

Howard to realize that his heart was in the wildness of the

Bonham Road property. After all, his name says it all: Of

the Woods. So rebuild they did. And now Howard DuBois

has set aside ~41 acres of this special property bounded

north and south by Miamis Natural Areas to be preserved

forever by a conservation easement with the Trust.

He said that at one time he was not sure hed get a chance to

purchase the property that was originally 100 acres. He hadbought the small picturesque stone cottage on Bonham Rd..

in 1949 and had tried unsuccessfully a number of times to

get the surrounding 100 acres from the absentee landlords

who lived in Maryland. Then one day a realtor he knew

shouted at him across the street that he should buy that 100

acre property because it was now listed with his realty! After

a frenzied month of research and negotiation, it came down

to 2 serious bidders. Rather than exhaust resources of each

bidder and possibly let it fall to a development consortium,

Howard DuBois made a proposal to the other bidder that he

A view of the DuBois family property



From the mid 1800s to about 1960, conrmed reports

of bobcats in Ohio were extremely rare. Since 1960there have been signs that

this beautiful wild cat ismaking a slow return in

Ohio. Sightings are stillrare and bobcats are still

considered an endangeredspecies in the State of Ohio.

Imagine the excitement whentracks found in GermantownMetropark in October of

2007 were conrmed to bethose of a bobcat! Tracks

were rst found by a visitingnaturalist, Stanley Stine, and

two weeks later more trackswere found and photographed

by the naturalists from the

Germantown MetroparkNature Center (shown at right).

The bobcat is a strikinglymarked cat, with a relatively

short tail for his size. This bobbed tail gives theanimal its name. They favor a habitat with plenty of

cover and places where they can hang out with a goodview of what is around them. Their tracks are distinctive

by their size (2 to 2-1/2 inches) and the fact that thereare no signs of claws in the tracks since the bobcat, like

Return of the Bobcat

By

Skip Layman

Staff Naturalist

Germantown

MetroPark

Nature Center

most cats, have retractable claws. Although the tracks

at Germantown Metropark indicate at least one bobcatis around, the chances of actually

seeing one are quite remote, sincethey are primarily active at night,

and they have a territory of up to 10square miles.

We believe that one of the mainreasons for the return of the bobcat

in our area is favorable habitat.Recently additional habitat has

been conserved through cooperativeefforts between Three Valley

Conservation Trust and FiveRivers MetroParks. Being goodneighbors plays a signicant part

in land conservation; providinghabitats for a wide variety of

animals, including our newlydiscovered bobcat.

The Germantown MetroParksNature Center has a display about

the bobcat, including a bobcat skinand bobcat skull. The center is open to the public from

noon to 5 PM, Tuesday through Friday; from 10 AM to5 PM Saturday and from noon to 5 PM Sunday.

The nature center is also the starting point for many ofthe excellent trails in Germantown Metropark. z

Example of a bobcat that would make tracks like those found in Germantown Metropark.

Bobcat track found by naturalists in

Germantown Metropark.


10/12

10 www.3vct.org Valley Trust NewS

The Farm Bill passed by the U.S. Senate in Decemberincludes a permanent extension of the new tax incentivefor conservation easement donations and bargain sales,

which expired after December 31. The House Farm Billdoes not contain a similar provision. A House-Senateconference to reconcile these differences and work out anal Farm Bill could start in late January. But the Houseand Senate bills are complex and very different so anal agreement will probably take weeks to nalize. Thislegislation is vital to prospective conservation easementdonors because such tax incentives have had a majorimpact on decisions to protect properties in the Trustsseven county area.

This House-Senate conference reconciliation is the bestbet for ensuring that the extension of the favorable tax

incentive (Bill HR 4 effective August 2006 - December 31,2007) will become permanent. Before August 2006, thetax deduction limited easement donors to a deduction of

30% of their income, with a 5 year carryover. After August2006, easement donors were permitted to deduct 50% oftheir income, with a 15 year carryover. For farmers, thechange was even greater: 100% deduction from income,with a 15 year carryover.

As examples of this, prior to 2006, a taxpayer with anincome of $40,000 donating a conservation easementworth $300,000 could deduct only $72,000 of the

$300,000 sacrice, with a federal tax benet of $12-15,000. The Incentive permitted the same taxpayer to beable to deduct all $300,000 over a fteen year period,with a tax benet of $50-75,000 for a $300,000 sacrice.So, the family making the donation could at least recoupthe deduction they were due under the now-expired taxincentive.

WhatdoesthistranslatetohereinSouthwestOhio?

The Tax Incentive has meant a huge boost to conservationeasement donations in the Three Valley ConservationTrust area. In the sixteen months the tax benet wasin force, the Trust helped landowners protect nearly as

many properties and acres as in its previous twelve yearsof existence! From 1994-8/17/2006, the Trust acquired39 conservation and agricultural easements, covering

some 5183 acres (16 donated+ 23 partially funded = 39total. See table below). Injust sixteen months with theTax Incentive, your ThreeValley Conservation Trust hasrecorded 32 more easementscovering 3818 acres. Whenyou consider wholly donated

easements in comparisonto bargain-sale easements (anywhere from 5%-75% ofeasement value), the numbers are even more startling. Ofthe 39 pre-Tax Incentive easements, only sixteen werewholly donated to the Trust. Since August 2006, 21 of the32 properties protected by easement were donations. z

Extension of Conservation Easement Tax Incentive

Soon to be decided in U.S. House-Senate Farm Bill

Conference Committee

Impact of Conservation Easement Tax Deduction Incentive: Before and After August 2006 #Easements Easement Easements #EasementAcres Donated AcresDonated PartiallyFunded PartiallyFunded

1994August2006PriortoPassageHR4TaxIncentive 16 1036 23 4147

August2006-2007AfterPassageHR4TaxIncentive 21 1307 11 2511

WHAT YOU CAN DO:To Support the Farm Bill Tax Incentive

Ask your Member of Congress to include a permanentextension of the conservation easement tax incentive on the

2008 Farm Bill. (The Senate has passed it.) Ask them to co-sponsor HR 1576 - the stand alone bill that would continuea permanent tax incentive legislation!

Senators RepresentativesSherrod Brown, OH John Boehner, OH 8thGeorge Voinovich, OH Steve Chabot, OH 1stRichard Lugar, IN Mike Turner, OH 3rdEvan Bayh, IN Mike Pence, IN 6th

to Support Clean Ohio and theProperty Tax Legislation HB 402

Ask your state representative or senator to sponsor

legislation to reauthorize the Clean Ohio Program and/orsupport a ballot initiative to fund the program.

Ask your state representative or senator to help minimizethe property tax exposure for conservation easementdonors on HB 402.

Senators: Representatives:Tom Roberts Bill Coley, 55thGary Cates Courtney Combs, 54th

Speaker Jon Husted, 37thShawn Webster, 53rdJim Zehringer, 77th


11/12

Three Valley Conservation Trust Direct Successfrom the Clean Ohio Fund:

Program easements easements acreagerecorded acreage pending pending

AEPP 12 3246 5 433

ConservationFund 13 2000 1 142

TotalEasementsCleanOhio 25 5246 6 543

WINTER 2008 www.3vct.org 11

Clean Ohio Fund

in JeopardyIn 2008, the remnants of funding from the bond-funded

Clean Ohio program will be distributed for farmland

preservation, and for trails, brownelds, and conservation

funds in different parts of Ohio. In the Three Valley

Conservation Trust area of Butler, Preble, Montgomery

and Darke counties, funding is only available through theOhio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (AEPP)

and limited money for trails and browneld revitalization

for this year unless the program is reauthorized.

At the end of the year, the four authorized funding

rounds will have been completed, with some limited

funds available through bond repayment for a handful of

projects statewide.

A coalition of groups (including the Trust) are exploring

placing an initiative on the November 2008 ballot to ask

voters to continue the Clean Ohio Program and bondingpending appropriations for expenditures. However,

competing bonding interests such as extended benets for

veterans and a bleak budgetary forecast have the potential

to severely hamper the efforts to continue and fund this

hugely popular and successful program.

Hopefully, the Governor and General Assembly will

recognize the key role that the Clean Ohio Fund has

played in generating momentum and local interest in land

conservation, parks, trails and economic revitalization

of our cities and villages. You can weigh in. Here in

Southwest Ohio, the program has provided the vehicle

for more than half of the lands the Trust and others have

protected since 2002. z

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Trust Benefactors

Great Blue Heron Group - $10,000+ FreereservationsforallTrustevents,ChairsReception,Tourofatleastoneeasementsite

Founders Society-$2,500+FreereservationsfortwoTrustevents,ChairsReception,Tourofatleastoneeasementsite

Conservationist -$1,000-$2,499

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Trust Partners

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three valley conservation trust

Conserving the natural

environment and cultural

heritage of Southwest Ohio

Did you know that you can name the

Three Valley Conservation Trust

in your estate?


12/12

Non-Prot Org.

U.S. Postage

P A I DPermit No. 171

Oxford, OH

45056

www.3vct.org

Larry Frimerman, Executive Director

Lawrence Leahy, Development Director

Mary Glasmeier, Ofce Manager

Thi l tt i i t d l d

5920 Morning Sun Road, PO Box 234Oxford, Ohio 45056

513-524-2150 513-524-0162 fax

Legislation to minimize the property tax exposure for

conservation easement donors has been introduced in the

Ohio General Assembly. At the request of the Coalitionof Ohio Land Trust members (including the Three Valley

Conservation Trust) and the Ohio League of Conservation

Voters, Representatives Tracy Heard (D-Columbus) and

Jon Peterson (R-Delaware) introduced HB 402, a bill that

would give easement donors the lower of 50% of their

property tax rate or the Current Agricultural Use Valuation

(CAUV) (if eligible).

The legislative sponsors will also include a provision

to exempt donors of permanent conservation easements

from the 3-year CAUV Recoupment exposure, should the

easement property no longer remain on CAUV.This law would help landowners with sensitive habitats

and who wish to enhance or plant a native forest, prairie,

or wetland without risking loss of CAUV or receiving

a stiff penalty if land is converted from exclusively

productive farm ground to habitat installed by entities

Conservation Easement Property Tax

Legislation Introducedsuch as Pheasants Forever or the US Fish and Wildlife

Service.

The need for the legislation arose when easement donors

in a few counties found that they were still paying the

same high property tax rates after easement compared to

prior easement. In addition, there have been documented

instances where a few easement donors installed habitat,

stopped actively farming, and then subsequently lost their

CAUV status, and were subject to recoupment. Other

landowners have been reluctant to complete agreements

to permanently protect their land with habitat-related

use restrictions for fear of losing their low property tax

exposure. The legislation is designed to remove that

obstacle, and enhance sustainable agriculture and habitatwork.

Stay tuned for updates on the progress of this bill, and how

the membership can participate in ensuring its passage.z

EDITORS NOTE: See page 10 for information on what

you can do.

Winter 2008 Valley Trust Newsletter, Three Valley Conservation Trust

Documents

Transcript of Winter 2008 Valley Trust Newsletter, Three Valley Conservation Trust