April 2011 GreenSpace Connect Digest
This issue of GreenSpace Connect is dedicated to projects that were made possible through funding from the Commonwealth’s Growing Greener grants. In addition to the projects mentioned below, Growing Greener grants have protected working farms, cleaned up rivers and streams, created and improved parks and trails, and conserved special places. To contribute or
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List of Stories
Local Land Trust Accredited by National Organization
Bucks County Remains Open for Open Space
PASA Sees a Future For New Farmers in Leasing from Landowners
Federal Conservation Tax Benefit Extended Through 2011
Local Land Trust Accredited by National Organization
 The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, has announced that Montgomery County Lands Trust has been awarded accredited status.
“Accredited land trusts meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever,” says Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryan. “The accreditation seal lets the public know that the accredited land trust has undergone an extensive, external review of the governance and management of its organization and the systems and policies it uses to protect land.”
“The accredited status of Montgomery County Lands Trust demonstrates our commitment to permanent land conservation,” says Kate Harper, Board Chair of Montgomery County Lands Trust. “The accreditation process affirmed the strength of our policies while inspiring us to become even better at what we do.”
Since the 1993 founding of Montgomery County Lands Trust, the nonprofit organization has directly preserved and facilitated the protection of more than 5,100 acres. The group works to connect people with green places through open space education, and it tackles the open space projects that improve the quality of life for citizens throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Montgomery County Lands Trust was awarded accreditation this February and is one of 130 land trusts from across the country that has been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008. Accredited land trusts are able to display a seal indicating to the public that they meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent. The seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., awards the accreditation seal to community institutions that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. Established in 2006, the commission is governed by a volunteer board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country.
The Commission is an independent program of the land trust alliance. The alliance, of which Montgomery County Lands Trust is a member, is a national conservation group based in Washington, D.C. that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America.
Reflecting on the achievement, Executive Director Dulcie Flaharty said: “Knowing that Montgomery County Lands Trust has done the critical work of reviewing, updating and developing state-of-the-art procedures confirms that we are operating in the most ethical and responsible manner. We are honored to join the ranks of top-rated land trusts.”
The Montgomery County Lands Trust joins a list of other land trusts that have been established in Southeastern Pennsylvania since 2008. Other land trusts in this region include the Bedminster Regional Land Conservancy, Brandywine Conservancy, Heritage Conservancy, Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, Natural Lands Trust and the Tinicum Conservancy. Find more information about other accredited land trusts in Pennsylvania
Land Trust Alliance: Pennsylvania
More Information on the Accreditation Program
More Information on the Alliance
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Bucks County Remains Open for Open Space
 Three years into the $87 million open space program, coordinators say the work is on track. Bucks County voters approved funding of a 10-year open space program in 2007, fourty-four million dollars have been allocated to three funds and so far $8 million, has been spent. Another $3.5 million is pending approval.
Bucks county open space coordinator Kristine Kern said Bucks is right where it should be three years into the 10-year program."I'm really pleased," said Kern. "I feel we are actually ahead." Last month, Kern's office produced a report showing how much has been spent in the $26 million Municipal Open Space Program, the $11 million Natural Areas Program and the $7 million Delaware Riverfront Program.
The municipal program sliced up its $26 million among Bucks County's 54 towns. Allocations depended on populations and land area and ranged from $214,100 for Ivyland to $1.17 million for Bensalem. Towns were expected to use the money for open space planning, acquisitions and improvements.
To be eligible for the money, towns had to first update their open space plans.
Some towns have spent their allocations. Lower Southampton used its $517,197 in 2009 to help pay for 14 acres of land between two developments on Bustleton Pike it wanted for passive recreation space."The rate that they've been completing their open space plans is promising," said Kern. "There's definitely a lot of interest there."
On the other hand, Wrightstown, Hulmeville, Langhorne Manor, Quakertown, Riegelsville, Telford and Trumbauersville have not updated their open space plans, according to the report. At $353,378, Wrightstown's allocation is the largest of the seven. "We have a draft plan that's being circulated through our planning commission right now," said Wrightstown manager Joe Pantano. "We should have everything to the county and approved in three to six months - probably sooner." Then the township will begin targeting land for preservation, Pantano said.
Land can be preserved for natural resource conservation, agriculture and recreation either through acquisition or the purchase of conservation easements. Towns may also use the money for projects like riverbank restoration, native tree plantings, pedestrian trails and multi-use sports fields.
The largest of the improvement project allocations so far has been $470,982 to Upper Southampton for Veterans Field. The township is adding a memorial, new soccer fields, a playground, a walking path, a parking lot, restrooms and storm water management measures at the field on Street Road.
The $11 million Natural Areas Program protects plant and animal habitats, significant geological features and ecological systems through land and conservation easement acquisitions. Since 2007, 41 applications have been submitted and the commissioners have approved 23 grants totaling $5.6 million that preserved more than 1,000 acres. "It's the busiest component that I administer," said Kern. "There was funding under the 1997 bond program so it had really hit its stride. We had 15 applications in the pipeline when (2007) began. "So far, the three biggest allocations were $600,000 for the Ingham Spring property in Solebury, $500,000 for the Snipes easement in Falls and $364,762 for the Plater easement in Nockamixon.
The $7 million Delaware Riverfront Program helps 17 riverfront towns with preservation along the Delaware. The riverfront initiative is similar to the municipal open space program but applicants can get up to half of the property's appraised value up to a maximum of $500,000 for acquisition projects and up to $250,000 for improvements.
The program is new and the guidelines were not distributed until 2009. The first round of applications was due last August and two applications totaling $1 million are pending approval.
Read more on the Bucks County Municipal site
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PASA Sees a Future for New Farmers in Leasing from Landowners
 Although Pennsylvania has a long tradition of preserving farmland and open space, there isn't an effective mechanism to provide new farmers the help they need to find land and capital. Retiring farmers, land trusts and landowners with large or small parcels have no clear channel to help them find farmers.
The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) has made a commitment to grow new farms and farmers through the creation of an innovative single entity: FarmFutures, designed to attract new farmers and to assist them in locating the land and capital necessary to be successful agricultural entrepreneurs.
Over the past two years, PASA has worked with land trusts, investment groups and consultants to map our region’s resources. PASA recently concluded a research project with Temple University’s Fox School of Business, unequivocally demonstrating that leasing builds farmer equity far faster than land purchase. Because potential farmers often cite the high cost of farmland as the main barrier to entry, proving the economic advantage of leasing is a game-changing, real-world approach to farming as a sound business venture.
Based on PASA’s work with the Fox School, the newly launched FarmFutures website is accepting applications from landowners interested in making land available for food production and from aspiring farmers looking for land. While FarmFutures is still in its pilot phase, PASA hopes the program will function like a blend of eBay and eHarmony: a marketplace and a matching service with the goal of launching new sustainable farm enterprises. The pilot phase is focusing on the eight-county region of southeastern Pennsylvania, around Philadelphia, but PASA hopes to secure additional funding to expand the program throughout the state.
Eligible land can be of almost any acreage, with a slight preference for parcels in the 10-to 30- acre range. Agriculture must be an allowable use for the land and access to water is essential. Sustainable farmers “farm the soil,” so for them, the real return on investment takes many years as they build soil fertility. Generally PASA is advising landowners and farmers to think in terms of three to five years, with options to renew, and perhaps in some instances options to purchase over a longer period of time.
FarmFutures believes all enterprises formed under its auspices are businesses, and as such require the same level of care, planning and formal agreements as any other entrepreneurial effort. PASA will require all farmers to submit their business plans for review by the landowner prior to the drafting of a lease. For those farmers and landowners accepted into the program, PASA can also offer access to pro bono legal services for lease development through the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law’s Rural Economic Development Clinic.
To enroll as a landowner or farmer, visit www.pasafarming.org and click on FarmFutures. Marilyn Anthony is the southeast regional director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. She can be reached at marilyn@pasafarming.org.
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Federal Conservation Tax Benefit Extended Through 2011
 In December 2010, Congress renewed the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easement donations. The incentive is retroactive to January 1, 2010 and extrended to December 2011. The enhanced tax deduction for conservation easement donations has helped America’s land trusts work with farmers, ranchers and other modest-income landowners to increase the pace of conservation by about 250,000 acres a year.
The tax benefits were originally signed into law on August 3, 2006 when Congress approved a tremendous expansion of the federal tax incentive for conservation easement donations. This was a great victory for conservation. The tax incentive has helped America’s land trusts increase the pace of land conservation by at least 535,000 acres compared to the previous two years! The law:
* Raises the maximum deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement from 30% of their adjusted gross income (AGI) in any year to 50%;
* Allows qualified farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their AGI; and
* Increases the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 years to 16 years.
These changes enable family farmers, ranchers, and other moderate-income landowners to get a significant tax benefit for donating a conservation easement on their land. Under prior law, an agricultural landowner earning $50,000 a year who donated a conservation easement worth $1 million could take a total of no more than $90,000 in tax deductions. Under the new law, that landowner can take as much as $800,000 in tax deductions – still less than the full value of their donation, but a significant increase.
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