Efforts to preserve land are succeeding (complete article from source)
Source: The Ann Arbor News, by Tracy Davis
August 13, 2007
But many parcels lack public access
If local land preservation activists were looking for a year emblematic of the success of their mission, 2006 was it.
In Washtenaw County, 1,143 acres were protected last year by the Ann Arbor Greenbelt Program, the county's Natural Areas Preservation Program, township programs and several private conservation organizations.
In the years prior to 2006 they had collectively protected about 4,000 acres to add to the county's estimated 33,123 acres of land set aside in parks, preserves, recreation areas and through easements.
It was a new pace that reflected the community's anxiety over a loss of open space; the appeal of some short-term tax advantages for preserving private properties; and the work of local conservation organizations and tax-funded preservation programs, advocates say.
It is also part of a national trend. A November report from the Land Trust Alliance, a national umbrella organization for private land conservation groups, showed a 54 percent increase in the number of acres preserved by state and local land trusts since 2000. According to their report, preservation efforts averaged 2.6 million acres a year, reaching almost 12 million acres last year, an area about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. When national trusts, such as the Nature Conservancy, are included, the acreage totals 37 million, an area larger than the state of Michigan.
Tax incentives are part of it. Qualifying farmers, ranchers and other property owners can write off larger proportions of their income for easements donated, said Barry Lonik, a local land consultant.
"That's a hell of a deal,' he said. But it only runs through the end of this year, and many organizations have been rushing to close with farmers and other land owners clamoring to take advantage.
Another reason for the current push is a recognition on the part of conservation groups and the public that large-scale land acquisition isn't really taking place at the federal and state levels the way it was during the 20th century, said Jack Smiley, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy.
"We've had a growth in land trusts because the government has really dropped the ball, with some notable exceptions,' he said. "People have realized that we need to protect land, not just for tree hugging, but for economic viability and quality of life. And they've acted.'
Michigan has a purchase of development rights program for farmland, but it has received little funding in recent years, critics say. The state Department of Natural Resources still buys land, said Kerry Wieber, DNR's forest land administrator and chair of the land review team, although "we are always limited by the availability of funds.'
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