Landowners Should Benefit from Hosting Endangered Wildlife

Group Encourages Conservation Easements to Enhance Protection for Utah Prairie Dogs

DENVER - The recent decision by the Utah State Tax Commission to reduce the appraised value of Bruce Hughes’ property because the land has prairie dogs may be a boon for Utah prairie dog protection on private land. Iron County had appraised Mr. Hughes’ property at $100,000 per acre. Mr. Hughes believed the prairie dogs on his property made it worth less. After losing his appeal to Iron County, Mr. Hughes won his appeal to the state. The Utah Tax Commission agreed that the land should be appraised as agricultural land worth $2-3,000 per acre.

“The Utah Tax Commission’s decision sends an unfortunate message that Utah prairie dogs devalue land,” stated Lauren McCain, Prairie Protection Director with WildEarth Guardians. “Yet I’m all for tax breaks for landowners who accept endangered species on their lands.”

Utah prairie dogs are protected as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. McCain’s organization, WildEarth Guardians, has challenged policies authorizing private landowners to exterminate Utah prairie dogs.

Rewarding landowners with tax and other incentives for conserving threatened and endangered species is an important way to build tolerance for protected wildlife under the Endangered Species Act. The 35-year-old Endangered Species Act remains one of the most popular laws among U.S. citizens. However, private landowners with endangered species living on their properties sometimes balk at the perception of government intrusion into the way landowners manage their lands. Revising state and federal tax structures in ways that promote wildlife and habitat protection is a reasonable approach to obtain broader, proactive participation in endangered species recovery.

“We are facing an unprecedented human-caused wildlife extinction crisis on both private and public lands,” stated McCain. “We cannot continue the status quo of prioritizing development and habitat destruction over protecting endangered species. Financial incentives to reward landowners for their conservation efforts is one way to start turning things around.”

“I recommend that Mr. Hughes and other landowners in his position work with local conservation organizations or the state to protect Utah prairie dogs and other wildlife with conservation easements,” added McCain. “Conservation easements provide the additional benefit of a federal tax deduction.”

Iron County has the option of appealing the Utah State Tax Commission decision. Letting the decision stand could go a long way to help moderate opposition to prairie dogs and other imperiled wildlife on private lands.


 

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