Legislative debates continue on conservation easement tax credits

The fragile peace between land trusts that hold conservation easements and landowners cheated out of State tax credits is teetering on the brink, after a second bill not authorized by a 2019 working committee surfaced in the State House.

Conservation easements have been a tool for preserving undeveloped lands that the State believes should be left wild. The State has granted more than 4,000 such easements over the last 20 years. An easement basically goes under a land trust or a county for preservation. The property owner retains title to the land, in exchange for tax credits.

But tax credits...