what s unique about land trusts 
there is one other important distinction between title holding and conservation land trusts a donation to the latter could earn you a big tax break if a landowner donates their development rights to a conservation trust they can receive a tax deduction equal to the difference between the value of the land as encumbered with the easement in place and what it could be worth if it were developed for its highest and best use in some cases this deduction can be worth millions of dollars 13typically landowners are either farmers and ranchers who have owned the property for generations or very wealthy individuals families or businesses that can afford to buy tracts outright recently however an investment niche has developed that is designed to open up the tax benefits of conservation to a larger portion of the population using a multi member partnership or syndicate these investment companies allow multiple accredited investors to pool their money to purchase land for conservation after donating the property development rights to a land trust via a conservation easement the members of the partnership split the tax deduction pro rata thanks in part to these conservation partnerships it is estimated that land conservation increased by 58 between 2010 and 2020 14of course any time there s the potential for profit someone will abuse the system there have been some high profile cases of people taking very large deductions for donating easements on golf courses housing developments and other properties that don t actually have much ecological or cultural value 1516in response there has been an aggressive backlash against syndicated investments specifically and the land trusts that accept their easement donations however this singular focus may not paint a complete picture of the issues at play whether donated by farmers billionaires or syndicated investors it is clear that conservation easement donation laws require a closer look to ensure that the risk of abuse is minimized without removing the incentive to conserve 