A sunset review of the Colorado Conservation Easement Oversight Commission tends to support a state lawmaker’s call for an inventory and public registry of conservation easements in the state.
The review of the CEOC was before the House Committee on Transportation and Energy Wednesday afternoon, but there is more work to be done.
Rep. Kimmi Lewis, R-Kim, is a member of that committee. She told the Journal-Advocate late Wednesday afternoon that bills are being drafted to continue the CEOC and to reduce the number of commission members, but amendments were being offered at the last minute and the committee ran out of time.
The Department of Regulatory Agencies conducted the sunset review of the CEOC last year and, in the report released Oct. 13, 2017, made a number of recommendations concerning future operations of the CEOC. DORA did recommend continuing CEOC for another seven years, but said the commission should be reduced from nine to seven members and that the commission find a way to develop a registry of conservation easements.
The composition of the commission has been under fire by landowners for some time, in particular the number of special interest groups represented on the board. The board consists of a representative of Great Outdoors Colorado, appointed by the GOCO state board; Department of Natural Resources, appointed by the DNR executive director; the Department of Agriculture, appointed by the agriculture commissioner; and six gubernatorial appointees: A representative of a certified land trust; a local government or open space conservation agency representative; a representative of either a certified land trust or local government or open space conservation agency; an individual “competent and qualified to analyze the conservation purpose of conservation easements;” a certified appraiser; and a landowner who has donated a conservation easement.
The sunset review recommended paring that down to one representative of DNR, appointed by its Executive Director; one representative of CDA, appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture; and five members, appointed by the Governor: Two representatives of certified easement holders; one individual who is competent and qualified to analyze the conservation purpose of conservation easements; and two members of the general public.
At its Dec. 18 meeting the CEOC passed a resolution opposing the changes in the commission’s makeup, specifically making sure that GOCO, an appraiser, and an easement contributor be named to the board.
DORA’s review also recommended that CEOC “develop a registry of conservation easements that receive tax credits.” That recommendation references a 2011 working paper by Jeffrey Sundberg of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. In his paper, titled “State Income Tax Credits for Conservation Easements: Do Additional Credits Create Additional Value?” Sundberg states that a statewide catalog of conservation easements is important for two reasons; because the easements are “publicly subsidized,” and because neighboring landowners’ property values may be affected, and those landowners have a right to know that.
That statewide cataloging of conservation easements is at the heart of House Bill 18-1122, introduced this session by Rep. Kimmi Lewis, R-Kim. Lewis wants the state to establish a full accounting and mapping of the acreage held in Colorado conservation easements.
Lewis’ bill and two companion bills – HB 18-1123 would impose a three-year moratorium on tax credits while the accounting and mapping is done, and HB 18-1194 would impose layers of protections of landowners putting their property in conservation easements – are, not surprisingly, opposed by a long list of entities.
Opponents claim that an accounting already exists, both in each county clerk’s office, and in COMaP, the state’s map of protected lands with more than 28,000 entries of protected lands parcels from more than 300 different data sources. COMaP is housed and maintained at Colorado State University.
The only problem with COMaP is that it’s accessible only by subscription, and those run anywhere from $150 a year to $300 a year.
Erik Glenn, executive director of Colorado Cattleman’s Agricultural Land Trust, one of the largest in Colorado, said last week his organization has some reservations about complete transparency. Lewis’ bill calls for a listing of all kinds of paperwork attached to the property held in trust.
“What if we do a monitoring and find a noxious weed problem?” he said. “The weed problem would be addressed, but that report is still on file. People could see a map with conservation easements on it and get the idea that they’re like state parks. It could also cause problems with endangered species, where some people don’t understand that this is still private land, not public land. If we could address those issues then, yes, we might be open to that.”
Lewis said Wednesday the review report did not prompt her to submit her bills for this session.
“This (review report) is just another source saying that an accounting needs to be done,” Lewis said. “That was said last year but nobody did anything, so as we got ready for this session, I drafted my bills. But it definitely needs to be done. We can’t fix something if we don’t know what we have.”
Lewis said the review of CEOC will come back before that committee in two weeks.
Jeff Rice: 970-526-9283, ricej@journal-advocate.com
