Land protection is critical to ensuring a healthy community. Trees provide the air we breathe and help filter clean water for us to drink. Being in the presence of nature reduces blood pressure and improves mental health. Protected lands also are natural carbon sequesters, fighting climate change simply by being. We inherently need nature, and our work helps ensure we have nature and the natural resources we need for healthy communities for future generations. Read more about how protecting your land combats climate change, supports healthy communities and can provide landowners with tax benefits.
Conserving land provides a balance between the built environment and nature, preserving the natural resources we need to survive, including: clean air, clean water, and working landscapes for farming and forestry production. Land conservation is also an important part of the fight against climate change.
Protecting open space is becoming increasingly important as suburban sprawl and development grows in our region. Our work with willing landowners ensures important places are protected so views stay the same and represent the history of the community and we have places we can access nature to recreate, unwind and connect. Open space and recreational opportunities are one of the great resources of the Capital Region and a great reason to save land. If you have a parcel of land you are interested in protecting with MHLC, please reach out to Associate Director Sarah Walsh at sarah@mohawkhudson.org.
By protecting your land with MHLC, you are providing the clean air, clean water, and climate benefits needed to ensure healthy communities right here in your backyard. Protecting farmland and prime soils also helps to ensure working farms remain viable for future food production, creating a more sustainable Capital Region.
By giving a gift of land to create a public preserve, or leaving a gift as part of your estate planning, you are creating a legacy of a heathier Capital Region community. Our mission cannot be accomplished without these generous gifts of land, which ensure we all have open spaces to enjoy for generations to come. If you are interested in giving a gift of land or planning to give a gift of land as part of your estate, please contact MHLC’s Associate Director, Sarah Walsh.
Beside the benefit to the environment, there is also a financial incentive to protecting your land. Did you know that your donation of a conservation easement may qualify for a New York State tax credit? The Conservation Easement Tax Credit program is available as a refundable income tax credit on school district, county, and town property taxes paid during the year.
Landowners who have donated a conservation easement or gift of land may qualify for a federal income tax deduction based on the fair market value of their gift.
To learn more about the tax benefits of conserving your land, click here.
If you don’t have land to give, you can still support our mission to create a healthier Capital Region for people and the environment. Sign up to give monthly or quarterly recurring donations to MHLC, or register as a volunteer to help us steward the land. Your financial and hands-on support are great ways to help us continue our protection work and for you to create your own legacy of giving for a better environment. To give a gift to MHLC, click here.
