Guest posting from reader Ann Patton, who is a long-time activist in the emergency management field.

I keep thinking this land trust idea could be very useful in disaster management. Perhaps you already have used or know about this potential tool. I wish I had it available when I was doing the work.

Our son Michael Patton is director of Oklahoma’s Land Legacy, a nonprofit that works on land and water conservation by acquiring and preserving development rights on lands that have high conservation value, in exchange for generous tax write-offs. As I understand it, Land Legacy has a very broad grant of powers, and Michael is using those powers creatively.

In essence, a landowner might be able to exchange the development rights on his/her land for IRS tax credit. With some careful, creative management, I believe it could even be extended to floodplain acquisition — something that is going to become more and more urgent with rising seas. In essence, the IRS becomes a potential funding source.

If you are interested, here’s Michael’s website: Land Legacy.  There more info on his facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/landlegacy/