Summary of conservation activity in Georgia under the GLCP, 2006-2012

Summary of Conservation Activity in Georgia Under the GLCP: 2006-2012
There are three primary land conservation mechanisms that have been used in Georgia since the Georgia Land Conservation Program (GLCP) was established in 2006: Fee-title ownership acquisition by a government or non-governmental entity for conservation purposes,
which should include the incorporation of permanent deed restriction language; Conservation easements permanent conservation restrictions on privately-owned land; and Conservation covenants 10 or 20-year restrictions to permissible land uses on a property.
The Georgia state government only participates in fee-title acquisitions and conservation easements.
Fee-title Ownership
No comprehensive list of all conservation land in Georgia exists. However, analysis of the state's conservation lands database suggests that less than 7% of Georgia (under 2.7 million acres) is permanently protected by fee-title or other conservation mechanisms. Due to the uncertainty associated with such analysis, only fee-title acquisitons with which the state government has been involved since the GLCP's inception in 2006 are documented here.
The state government promotes the fee-title protection of conservation land through three funding sources: GLCP grants and loans have directly funded the permanent protection of 41,897.6 acres of land through
21 projects; Conservation tax credits have been awarded to 7 fee-title donations by non-state entities covering 205.9
acres; and the state has utilized bonds and private donations to acquire 52,806.8 additional acres of fee-title
conservation land since the GLCP's inception in 2006.
Conservation Easements
No comprehensive list of all conservation easements in Georgia exists, although the National Conservation Easements Database is attempting to provide such a resource. GLCP and DNR are in regular communication with the partnership that is constructing the NCED, but haven't yet accomplished an accurate representation of Georgia's easements. Subject to this limitation, the known conservation easements in Georgia can be divided between state-held and non-state held easements.
(OVER)

State-held Conservation Easements
The State of Georgia holds a total of 49 conservation easements that cover 53,628 acres. Funding sources used to acquire these easements include: GLCP grants totaling $255,637 have been awarded to 29 easement projects on 34,159 acres; Conservation tax credits have been awarded to 20 projects covering 26,832 acres; and All state-held easements have benefitted from some form of `other' funding, such as
landowner donations and non-GLCP grants.
Although the numbers seem to suggest otherwise (29+20=49), financial incentives offered by the state are not mutually exclusive most state-held easements that received a tax credit also received a GLCP grant.
Non-State-held Conservation Easements
Most conservation easements in Georgia are held by non-profit conservation organizations. Other non-state easement holders include local governments, authorities and federal agencies. The state assists non-state entities acquiring conservation easements through two mechanisms: GLCP grants and loans have directly funded the protection of 2,912.7 acres under 7 non-state
easements, one of which covering 168 acres also received a conservation tax credit; and Conservation tax credits have indirectly funded 333 non-state conservation easements
covering 124,620.5 acres as of September of 2012. Start-up equipment and on-going staff costs of the conservation tax credit program have been a part of the GLCP's budget within GEFA since the inception of conservation tax credits in 2007.
Contact GLCP
GLCP staff provides technical assistance and financing consultations on land conservation projects. The Program Manager may be reached using the information below.
Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, Land Conservation Program 233 Peachtree Street, NE Harris Tower, Suite 900 Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 584-1101 andrew@gefa.ga.gov