Stephen J. Small is recognized as the nation's leading authority on private land protection options and strategies. Steve has updated Preserving Family Lands: Book I. This special new edition of this classic for land trusts and landowners includes the new conservation easement tax incentives and encourages landowners to act this year to take advantage of those incentives. Steve wrote the original Preserving Family Lands in 1988 with the idea that land trusts would buy the book in bulk and give it away or sell it to landowners at a reduced price, and land trusts have been doing that for two decades now with tremendous results.

“Frankly, the current economic turmoil and uncertainty is all the more reason we need to increase our efforts to get the word out to landowners,” Steve says. “As we all know, the incentives might be extended, but they might not. Landowners need to understand this may be a unique planning opportunity, and we need to get the word out to them.”