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Senator Chris Murphy just met with members of the Greenwich Land Trust, the Shellfish Commission, and the Conservation Commission here along the Long Island Sound to discuss the conservation of this water.
“The Sound has an enormous economic benefit to the region, in the neighborhood of $20 billion a year. That’s hard to think about, that the Sound is contributing that much to the regions,” said Murphy.
Murphy says an example of this is the lobster industry.
“We lost $100 million of our economy almost overnight in a die-off that occurred,” said Murphy.
To decrease the likelihood that something like this happens again, there is a Conservation Easement Act.
“It is a tax incentive for individuals that donate a Conservation Easement of their land, which is a fancy way of saying the development rights,” said Murphy.
But, Murphy says the problem with this act is that it’s only extended on a year to year basis. He is working with other members of Congress to hopefully change this.
“We are trying to come up with some innovative ways to package together a handful of tax incentives relative to donations and charitable contributions and extend them for the long haul,” said Murphy.
“Once you protect that land, you’re not just protecting it for that land owner today. you are protecting it forever,” said Ginny Gywnn, the Executive Director of the Greenwich Land Trust.
For more information on land preservation in Greenwich, visit www.gltrust.org.
