Experts to discuss land preservation

The program is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Agriculture

special to the vindicator

HIRAM — Conservation experts from Western Reserve Land Conservancy will talk to farmers and others interested in preserving their property at a free one-hour program Feb. 11 at Hiram College.

“Protect Your Farmland” will run from 6-7 p.m. at the college’s second-floor Kennedy Center Ballroom, 11730 Garfield Road. An hourlong networking session will follow, and Countryside Conservancy will hold a session for new farmers starting at 8 p.m.

The program is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in conjunction with several local organizations, including the Land Conservancy and the Hiram College Center for the Study of Nature & Society.

Congress has renewed and improved the tax-incentive program for farmers and others who voluntarily conserve their land. Grantors of conservation easements may take a charitable deduction of up to 50 percent of their adjusted gross income in the year of the gift. The incentives apply only to conservation easements donated in 2008 or 2009.

The Land Conservancy has preserved more than 230 properties and more than 14,000 acres in northern Ohio, much of it through conservation easements. In addition, the Land Conservancy has also co-held easements with the agriculture department under its Agricultural Easement Purchase Program.

For more information on the program or on ways to preserve your land, call Mark Skowronski at (440) 729-9621, ext. 105.