Our friends at the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation alerted us to a bill that was introduced in the Iowa Senate that would severely impede private property rights and make it harder to protect land for conservation purposes in Iowa.
Senate Study Bill 3134 places egregious, arbitrary caps to limit the amount landowners can receive from the sale of their property for conservation purposes to below fair market value. By restricting the amount that county conservation boards (CCBs) and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) can spend in expanding parks, trails, and wildlife areas — this bill would kill efforts to establish new public conservation and outdoor recreation land in Iowa.
These caps not only impede the private property rights of landowners to receive fair market value for their property from the buyer of their choice — they also deny any state tax deductions for charitable bargain sales to CCBs or the DNR. The bill also ignores any value of public lands — such as water quality, wildlife habitat, and flood mitigation — when determining land value.
We need you to act now to stop this bill! Click the link below and personalize your letter to let Senators know why you oppose this attack on landowners and conservation.
