Support Landowner’s Rights
The Land Trust supports the rights of landowners to choose what to do with their land. Keep it or sell, develop it or conserve - it is up to the landowner to decide. Does this conflict with the Land Trust’s mission? Not at all. The mission of the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust is to work with the community to protect the natural resources and scenic beauty of the Kinnickinnic River watershed.
Options
The Land Trust will accomplish its mission by making conservation the most attractive choice for landowners. The Land Trust has many ways to make conservation a good choice for landowners. No matter what the landowner’s goal, we can help them reach it. Here are some examples of how the Trust can help:
A family wants to keep their land and pass it on to their kids - another generation of farmers. Consider the often troubling impact of estate taxes: many people inherit a farm and then have to sell it, even if they do not want to, in order to pay the IRS estate taxes. A donation of a conservation easement, in whole or in part, can help reduce estate taxes and make inheritance affordable. We can help keep family farms in the family. Or perhaps a landowner would like to sell their land someday. In that case the Land Trust keeps a list of people who want to buy river land, but do not want to subdivide or develop it. We call them conservation buyers. The Land Trust can help landowners get a good price for their land without developing it.
The KRLT thinks that just as landowners have the right to develop their property, they also have the right to conserve it and to get all the benefit that conservation brings them.
Work Together
Of course, landowners need to know their choices before they decide what to do with their land. The Land Trust intends to make conservation the most beneficial choice, and is prepared and eager to help landowners accomplish their goals. Contact the Land Trust for more information - confidential and no obligation, of course - on how the Land Trust can help landowners benefit from conservation. Call 715-425-5738.
