Policy Positions

Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Protection

Heart of the Lakes advocates for swift, yearly passage of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) appropriations bill in order to expedite the availability of important funding to support land acquisition and public recreation development projects throughout the state. Heart of the Lakes works with the MNRTF board to streamline the application process and refining scoring criteria.

Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) on land purchased with MNRTF funds should not be required to be paid from the Trust Fund because it would restrict legislative flexibility for using other sources, including the general fund, and will limit the funds available to local communities to acquire and develop recreational lands. Any PILT taken from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund reduces the amount of funds available from the Trust Fund for local communities to acquire parkland and open space as part of their own economic and place-making strategies.

Farmland Protection

Heart of the Lakes supports the maintenance of current funding streams and the development of new funding streams for farmland protection. Heart of the Lakes advocates for the passage of legislation that would provide farmers with incentives to pay back defaulted P.A. 116 Development Rights Agreement liens, replenishing the Agriculture Preservation Fund and allowing distribution of funds to communities to purchase farmland conservation easements. The Michigan Department of Agriculture draws from the Agriculture Preservation Fund to provide grants to local governments with Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs. Programs that receive state funds may also be eligible for Federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) matching dollars. Providing an incentive to pay back liens only provides a temporary source of dollars for the Agriculture Preservation Fund, however, and Heart of the Lakes is working with other stakeholders to find a more permanent funding solution for farmland protection.

FRPP is also currently at risk as Congress deliberates the agriculture appropriations bill, impacting the current budget as well as the budget baseline available for conservation programs in the next farm bill. Heart of the Lakes supports funding of FRPP to prevent further reduction of the already low level of federal spending on conservation and natural resources and to ensure a federal match for Michigan PDR programs that qualify.

State Land Capping

Heart of the Lakes strongly opposes capping the number of acres the State of Michigan may own, which would prevent the type of flexibility needed to better manage land for specific goals, and instead calls for a comprehensive strategy for the acquisition, disposition, and management of state lands. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (the Department) must retain flexibility to acquire in-holdings and buffers that are strategic, provide for contiguous ownership for better management purposes, limit trespass issues or concerns, and meet the Department’s priorities. Likewise, there are potential acquisitions with natural resource values of statewide significance that can drive Michigan’s tourism and resource economies. The Department should retain the flexibility to acquire Great Lakes shoreline and other exceptional lands.

Conservation Tax Incentives

Heart of the Lakes supports tax policies that help member land conservancies and landowners conserve important lands. As 501(c)(3) nonprofits, conservancies must be allowed to exempt properties they own from property taxes. Heart of the Lakes also supports policies that prevent property tax “pop-ups” when lands are donated to conservation by will.

Heart of the Lakes actively supports the work of the Land Trust Alliance, the national convener and policy advocate for land conservancies, to advance federal policy beneficial to the land conservancy community. Heart of the Lakes supports the renewal of the enhanced easement incentive, which helps landowners choose conservation by increasing the maximum tax deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement and increases the number of years over which a donor can take deductions, among other provisions. Heart of the Lakes also supports the federal conservation easement incentive, which allows modest-income landowners to receive significant tax deductions for donating conservation easements that permanently protect important natural or historic resources on their lands.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Heart of the Lakes supports Land Trust Alliance and land conservancies in the Great Lakes Basin in shaping a unified strategy for needed changes to support a greater commitment for permanent land acquisition within the EPA-led Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Heart of the Lakes advocates for increased investment in land acquisition to leverage the land trust/private landowner constituency and greatly expand permanent protection and restoration results through the GLRI.