Conservation Tax Break
National Scenic Trails could get a conservation tax break
Senator Richard Blumenthal’s bill would create an income-tax credit for qualified conservation deals tied to scenic trails. The aim is to keep routes from being broken up by development.
A Senate bill would create a tax credit for conservation contributions linked to National Scenic Trails. It is meant to help keep existing routes connected by protecting the land around them.
- The bill would create an income-tax credit, not a trail program.
- It focuses on conservation contributions tied to National Scenic Trails.
- The aim is to keep trail corridors from being broken apart.
- Richard Blumenthal is the main sponsor, with three cosponsors.
- Landowners who want to keep a trail corridor intact could get a new federal tax break
Landowners who want to keep a trail corridor intact could get a new federal tax break. In the Senate, a proposal would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an income-tax credit for qualified conservation contributions that include National Scenic Trails. The point is not to build new trail mileage. It is to make it easier to preserve the land that keeps existing routes connected.
Keeping a route whole
For hikers, bikers and the groups that maintain access, the bill is aimed at a practical problem: a trail that looks continuous on paper can still be weakened when the surrounding land is carved up by development or split among too many owners. The credit would try to push conservation deals toward the parcels that matter most for continuity, before a gap opens in the corridor.
The sponsors behind it
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is the primary sponsor, joined by Sens. Christopher Murphy, Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen. That gives the bill four Senate sponsors, all from the same side of the aisle. Their pitch is narrow but concrete: use the tax code to reward land preservation that helps keep National Scenic Trails connected.