[pct-l] H.R. 1912: Complete America's Great Trails Act

[Jim Eagleton]

Who is the government trying to fool here?   For every million dollars of land the government receives, it will cost the government a million dollars.  I do not see any mathematical difference in this bill than to allocate money to the National Scenic Trail and have them buy land/easements from willing sellers.  

 

Of course, the effectiveness of tax credits assumes the land owner is paying taxes.  However, many owners will be considering this sale when they are retired and doing estate planning.  If I could not use the whole tax credit, I would give the government a small portion of the least developable land, and leave the more developable portion to my heirs.  

 

More land -yes; more tax code- no

toc
 
> Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 20:37:26 -0700
> From: yosemiteryan at yahoo.com
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] H.R. 1912: Complete America's Great Trails Act
> 
> 
> I spent some time this afternoon, with a coffee in hand, to browse upcoming legislation that could impact the PCT. I found a big one: 
> 
> http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1912
> 
> Here is the summary:
> 
> 4/2/2009--Introduced.
> Complete
> America's Great Trails Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow
> a tax credit for the fair market value of any National Scenic Trail
> conservation contribution. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to
> study and report to Congress on the efficacy of such tax credit in
> completing, extending, and increasing the number of National Scenic
> Trails.
> 
> 
> Allowing a tax credit for a conservation easement clearly holds tremendous potential for the PCT and many other National Scenic Trails! 
> 
> More details from two of the sponsors:
> 
> http://lummis.house.gov/?sectionid=44&sectiontree=6,8,44&itemid=172
> 
> http://connolly.house.gov/?sectionid=44&parentid=6&sectiontree=6,44&itemid=118
> 
> 
> I have, and I would encourage everyone on the PCT-L to write to their representatives, particularly if they happen to sit on one of the committees the bill is before:
> 
> http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1912&tab=committees
> 
> 
> With the number of people on the PCT-L it seems like we really could make a difference and get this bill passed. This is a great opportunity to really make a lasting impact on the permanent protection of the land the trail goes through. 
> 
> ProDeal
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l