By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — It is a problem as old as civilization itself: Preserving nature with its physical and spiritual benefits while embracing a society bent on burying it all in concrete for the sake of progress.

Most Hoosier farmers can remember a secret mushroom patch in the deep woods or a fishing pond where the hours drifted by as a child. If those hideaways were in urban areas or along major arteries in Central Indiana, chances are good that housing developments and strip malls are swallowing up those grand and beautiful scenes.

If cities continue to burgeon and wipe out the woodlands and wildlife this generation knew, what about future generations?
A series of workshops sponsored by the Hoosier Heartland Resource Conservation and Development Council and the Central Indiana Land Trust (CILT) will look at options for landowners, whether they are looking to preserve land, sell land or find new options to make a profit from your land.

“There is a lot of unchecked growth going on, but there are ways to protect land,” said Maria Steiner, community relations director for CILT. “The land is more than something pretty. It affects our life, our health and our habitat.”

Steiner said there are misconceptions about why the CILT exists.
“We’re not anti-growth and anti-development. That’s not us at all,” she said. “We just need a balance and a sustainable way of living on our land.”

Landowners have a few options to protect their land from development.

One is donating their land for conservation purposes to a land trust, or selling it to the land trust in a bargain sale for less than market value. The second option avoids some capital gains tax and entitles the landowner to a charitable income tax deduction based on the difference between the land’s fair market value and its sale price.

Another tool is a conservation easement, an agreement that permanently limits uses of the land to protect its conservation values. For instance, a farmer may continue to grow crops but give up his right to build structures on the easement.

Through 2009, a federal tax incentive for conservation easements will help landowners choosing to conserve their land.

The incentive hopes to raise the deduction a donor can take from 30 percent of his or her income in any year to 50 percent; allows qualifying farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of their income; and extends the carry-forward period for a donor to take tax deductions for a voluntary conservation agreement from 5 to 15 years.

The Land Trust Alliance, representing 1600 land trusts across the country, is working to make the incentive permanent, but it is now scheduled to expire at the end of 2009.

Steiner said the CILT has closed on five conservation easements, with six more in the works.

The biggest challenge is getting the word out, with no funding for paid advertising.

She hopes the workshop series will help that problem. Sessions are:

•Feb. 19, 4-8 p.m., Indiana Downs Off Track Betting Facility, third floor, 4200 N. Michigan Road, Shelbyville. “Creating a Legacy: Options for Preservation.” Topics include the role of land trusts, tax incentives for conservation easements, and the Baldwin Family Farm and its family conservation easement.

•Feb. 26, 6:30-9 p.m., Taylor Center at the Strawtown Koteewe Park, Noblesville. “So You Have Decided to Sell Your Land – What Next?” Topics include utilities and zoning affect on the sale, influencing neighborhood development, land deals and how to structure a sale, land development using conservation tools and opportunities to enhance the community and leave a legacy.

•March 28, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., S & E Produce and Flowers, 320 Griffith Road, Greenwood; lunch provided. “Keeping Your Land and Making a Profit.” Ideas and resources on starting a rural business, producing new or unique crops or livestock, add value to traditional ag products, provide a fun, recreational or nature-based tourism experience; manage a forest or woodlot, et cetera.

Costs range from one person attending one session for $15, up to two people attending all sessions for $40. Registration fee at the door is $20 per person.

For more information and to download a program and registration form, go to www.conservingindiana.org or call the Hoosier Heartland RC&D office at 317-290-3250.