Conservation Easements are what creates the deductions. They are a tax deduction created by the government to protect land from being developed. In 1976, Federal tax reform began allowing landowners to deduct the value of an easement as a tax deduction. The law was expanded in 2015 and now allows deductions of up to 50% of income. As you can imagine, the government made the process much more cumbersome than necessary. Without expert guidance and processing, these types of transactions should not ever be considered.