RANCHING Business
the legal fees and appraisal fees (including one appraisal before placing an easement on it and one after the ease- ment is in place), and other expenses associated with creating and fi ling the easement, can be quite costly. “The public gets a benefi t from the conservation of
open space, increased water quality and water volume, scenic views and so forth,” Cearley says. “And those benefi ts are being accepted as an offset for tax not col- lected. I think it is important people understand that. The tax deduction that is available or the value of the charitable contribution is the difference between the appraised value of land before the easement and after the easement. It has to be justifi ed because you’re get- ting a tax benefi t for it or you’re getting a credit for a charitable deduction, and the public benefi ts provided by a conservation easement do just that.”
Who holds the conservation easement? Once a family decides to put their land in a conser-
vation easement, the next step is to fi nd a group to hold that easement. Cearley says there are roughly 30 in the state of Texas. TALT is the only one that is statewide and concentrates on private, working agricultural land. “Other conservation easement holders have different
RANCHING Wildlife T
motivations. Some of them may be more in line with your philosophy than Texas Agricultural Land Trust,” he explains. “You just need to decide which one would be your best partner because, in a sense, this holder is going to be a partner with you. In the case of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, we’re not a partner in produc- tion or management, but we’re serving the function to protect that conservation easement through the years.” Next, or even simultaneously, contact a fi nancial
planner and an attorney who are familiar with conser- vation easements. The holder, along with the legal and fi nancial advisers,
will guide the landowner through the rest of the process. “We encourage you to have your trusted people right
there by your side the whole time,” Cearley says. “This is a negotiated agreement — not a ‘take it or leave it’ situation — and we understand it’s a big decision to make. When you enter into a permanent agreement, you want to make sure it’s right. That it’s something you are going to like next year and you’re still going to like 20 years from now.” This series continues in the April issue, as we dig
deeper into why a landowner may need or want a con- servation easement.
Lesser Prairie Chicken
HERE IS WELCOME NEWS FROM THE WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) regarding the
lesser prairie chicken. Once found throughout the short- and mid-grass prairies of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, by 1998 the species was a candidate for listing as an endangered species. Thanks to the range-wide management plans imple-
mented by ranchers and a number of cooperating agen- cies, lesser prairie-chicken populations have increased 25 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to a range-wide aerial survey. The survey showed increases in three of the bird’s
four ecoregions, across fi ve states. The Mixed Grass Prai- rie Region, which includes the northeast Panhandle of Texas, northwest Oklahoma and south central Kansas, saw an approximately 30 percent increase. This increase builds on the 20 percent in-
crease of last year and is evidence of the spe- cies’ ability to recover rapidly from drought and poor range conditions. With continued improvement in the nesting and brood-rearing habitat associated with more abundant rainfall,
58 The Cattleman February 2016
and private landowner actions to conserve and restore their habitat, WAFWA is optimistic that the species will recover to historic population levels. The only ecoregion with a continued downward
population trend is the Shinnery Oak ecoregion, which includes western Texas. This ecoregion is recovering from a prolonged period of extreme drought; however, recent roadside surveys indicate that lesser prairie chick- ens are starting to respond to the late 2014, early 2015 rainfall in this area. With continued moisture and drought relief, next
year’s shinnery oak populations should continue to re- cover, according to the WAFWA. The nonprofi t group is coordinating efforts to engage private landowners and industry to conserve the birds’ habitat and minimize im- pacts to the species. To date, industry partners have committed $46 million in enrollment and mitigation fees to pay for mitigation actions, and landowners across the range have agreed to conserve nearly 100,000 acres of habitat through conservation agreements. (tpwd.texas. gov/huntwild/lessprairiechicken)
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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