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Monday, Feb. 09, 2009

State land conservation passes 100,000 acre mark

Jim Gillis’ family has owned a stretch of about 1,453 acres in Treutlen and Laurens counties going back to the early 1900s.

In addition to growing timber and crops on the property, Gillis also loves hunting, fishing and taking in the land’s natural beauty.

Thanks to the state’s Land Conservation Program, the Gillis property will now be preserved forever.

The property helped push the program’s total to more than 100,000 acres preserved across the state.

“I’m really excited about the move,” Gillis said. “It’s a great deal. This piece of land, I’ve been involved with it for my entire life, and I’m 61. I’ve tried to preserve it. We’ve grown as much timber as we could but keep the land as natural as it is. ... The easement felt natural for me. I want to keep (the land) like this forever.”

The program began in 2005 and works in a couple of ways, said Curt Soper, director of the Land Conservation Program.

The state can buy the land and preserve it, Soper said, or private citizens such as Gillis can donate the land with an easement and get tax credits or loans to help offset the cost.

“The state is blessed with a tremendous amount of natural resources, which we want to conserve for the future to use and enjoy,” Soper said. “It’s a great benefit to the state both economically and environmentally.”

But for the program to continue to survive, it might be up to people such as Gillis to make it work. Last year, the state cut the funding for the program because of the struggling economy, and cuts are looming this year, making it difficult for the state to purchase any land for preservation.

Shane Hix, the director of communications for the program, said the program will continue despite the state’s budget crisis.

During last year’s fiscal 2009 budget process, the program was given $10 million, but that money was taken back during the summer when the budget was adjusted, Hix said. The state also took back about $40 million in grant funds. Typically, the base budget for the program is $5 million, which is what officials are looking for in the fiscal 2010 budget.

“It is a state program, and the state is in a difficult financial situation right now. It started last summer. ... But it’s the case for (all state programs) — land conservation is no exception. We’re all kind of weathering the economy right now and using the resources we have available.”

That’s what makes donations such as Gillis’ so important, Hix said, since Gillis lowered the potential value of the property by getting the easement.

Included in the easement are all sorts of clauses and restrictions that limit how the Gillis family or any future owner of the property can develop the land if the family sells it.

Gillis said he learned of the program when his father applied for a similar easement on a nearby stretch of property the elder Gillis owns in Treutlen County.

Gillis said he saw his father’s easement as a way of preserving his own property.

“I wanted to keep it as-is as long as possible,” said Gillis, a farmer and president of the Bank of Soperton. “This was a no-brainer. I don’t want to sell it. I want to keep it without anybody destroying it.”

Gillis said the process took about nine months and cost a fair bit of money, since it requires the land to get appraised and surveyed.

“It’s fairly expensive,” Gillis said. “You’ve got to want to do it. I’m well-pleased with how it turned out. ... The tax break does offset the cost, based on its restricted value. You can put in as much restrictions as you want.”

Soper said the Georgia program is among the most successful in the Southeast. Only Florida has preserved more, and it has a larger population than Georgia, he said.

Much of the preserved land is concentrated in north Georgia or the southwest part of the state. Middle Georgia has some acreage protected, such as Tobesofkee Creek in Bibb County, but Soper said there are parts of the state that he wants to have better represented.

“We haven’t done quite as many in Middle Georgia,” he said. It depends on the city or the county. You definitely want to have geographic diversity and reach out to parts of the state that don’t know about the program.”

Other conservation groups have praised its success.

“We really applaud Gov. Perdue and the leadership he has shown during these tough economic times,” said Rex Boner, vice president of the Conservation Fund. “All agencies are cutting back right now. It’s a difficult time right now. That’s why the governor has done such a good job with his leadership. In trying times, you have to be more creative to get conservation work done.”

Boner said it’s the economic issue that makes the private land donations by people such as Gillis so important.

“It’s also interesting that while we are struggling with the economy, there are still people who care enough to donate the value of their property. It says a lot about people and their commitment to the land.”

Michelle Cable, director of protection for the Georgia Chapter of Nature Conservancy, said she hopes funding starts up again for the program.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity for real conservation,” she said. “Funding is crucial for that.”

Gillis said he is more concerned for the environmental aspects for his land rather than the economic ones.

“We’re going to keep it as original as we can,” he said. “We can manage it for timber and we can manage it as a working forest. In four or five generations, it might be worth more to somebody down the road (with the easement) than without it.”

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.