Contact:

FRED FEINER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
PHONE: 908-234-1225, EXT. 104
FRED@NJCONSERVATION.ORG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

26-acre Bedminster Property Protected by Donation

BEDMINSTER, NJ, January 8, 2007 – The estate of Condict Hyde of Bedminster donated a conservation easement on the family’s 26-acre Spook Hollow Road property to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF). Owned by the Hyde family for some 80 years, the property features forest, open fields, hills and valleys as well as a stream known as Middle Brook.

“Our parents absolutely loved the land and they would be happy that it will be protected forever,” said Brooke Goode of Gladstone, one of Condict Hyde’s four children. “The property was part of an old pig farm and my father and our whole family grew-up on the land so it is very special for us. The property is adjacent to several previously preserved farms and we hope the preservation creates a domino effect for others to protect their land for future generations.”

The conservation easement donation comes at a time when Congress has significantly expanded the tax benefits available to landowners and farmers who donate easements. Until the end of 2007, landowners can take a tax deduction for easement donations up to 50% of their income, as compared to 30% under previous law, and qualifying farmers can actually deduct up to 100% of their income. Donors also now have up to 16 years to take tax deductions for conservation easement donations as opposed to the previous six years – a significant benefit for those with insufficient income to enjoy the full benefit of their donation.

Important tools in land preservation, conservation easements are often ideal ways to protect environmentally important lands. A conservation easement is a legally enforceable promise to preserve some portion of open space on an individual’s property to protect its natural, agricultural and scenic resources. Easement donors continue to own their land and to control access to it; conservation easements can provide public access, but only at the landowner’s discretion.

“The expanded tax incentives definitely help make donating an easement more feasible from a financial point of view and we hope other landowners will consider the opportunities they present as well as the importance of protecting our natural resources,” said Goode, a freelance editor of many local histories and other projects including New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills.

“We are extremely grateful to the Hyde family for their generous conservation easement donation, which illustrates the family’s tremendous commitment to saving Bedminster’s land and natural resources,” said Michele S. Byers, NJCF Executive Director. “This is an excellent time for landowners to think about donating conservation easements because the expanded federal tax incentives only apply to donations made in 2006 and 2007.”

The conservation easement donation paves the way for Bedminster Township to purchase the land outright from the Hyde family at a fraction of its market value. Later this year, it is expected that Bedminster will acquire the land in partnership with Somerset County, Lamington Conservancy and Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA). Ultimately, URWA will own and maintain the property as a nature preserve which will have public access.

For landowners, the federal tax break provides an incentive to donate easements, or sell them at a bargain sale price (less than market value). They receive a tax deduction for making what can amount to a substantial charitable gift.

“The expanded incentives represent an outstanding opportunity to landowners, but those interested should consult with a financial advisor before making any decisions as tax law can be complicated,” Byers said. “Over the next year and a half, conservation advocates will work hard to make these new tax incentives permanent. But with the window of opportunity currently set to close after 2007, there is no time like the present to take advantage of this new law.”

The Hyde property is valuable from a public standpoint because it is part of the NJCF Black River Greenway project area, a region that includes parts of Hunterdon, Morris and Somerset counties. NJCF has preserved nearly 3,000 acres of land throughout the area, for both public access and the protection of environmentally sensitive resources. The region is characterized by rolling open fields and farms and dramatic dark forests.

NJCF, New Jersey’s land conservancy, since 1960 has preserved over 100,000 acres of land from the New Jersey Highlands to the Delaware Bayshore, permanently protecting forests, farmland and natural resources, all vital to New Jersey’s future. For more information on saving New Jersey’s precious natural areas and natural resources, contact the New Jersey Conservation Foundation at 1-888-LAND-SAVE (1-888-526-3728).