Recently, American Friends’ board decided the organization needed a new name to better reflect the full range of current and potential partnerships. They chose American Friends of Canadian Conservation to express the full spectrum of possible collaborations and the extent of the impact we hope to have within the Canadian conservation community.
BC land trusts working in some of the province’s most ecologically-significant and scenic landscapes recognize that US taxpayers own high priority conservation properties. In response, the Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia and American Friends of Canadian Conservation (American Friends) launched the Conservation without Borders program.
Three individuals who have shaped cross-border conservation were recognized with awards by the Ontario Land Trust Alliance (OLTA). Current director Allyn Abbott and long-serving former director Christopher Baines were honored with the Angus McLeod Vision Award for volunteer service. Sandra Tassel, a former director and officer, who now serves as American Friends’ Program Coordinator, received the OLTA Vision Award for a land trust professional.
Drache Aptowitzer LLP, recognized as one of Canada’s foremost experts in the law related to charities and non-profit organizations, recently published a story about a conservation donation in Georgian Bay, Ontario. The Georgian Bay Land Trust (GBLT) had an opportunity to protect an undeveloped island featuring undisturbed stands of White Pine and Red Oak, open rock barrens and coastal meadow marsh, ideal habitat for rare species.
American Friends’ newest partnership, with Island Nature Trust (INT), can contribute to national success on both fronts by helping to increase protected lands in the province of Prince Edward Island (PEI).
Thanks to the generosity of Rouse and major contributors who acquired other parcels in the Reserve, and the efforts of volunteers from both MWLT and American Friends, Old Man’s Creek and the lands that surround it will remain undeveloped and as beautiful as Graham remembers them.
American Friends is delighted to announce the availability of Save Some Green: A Handbook for US Taxpayers. For years, Canadian conservation organizations and landowners from the US (and the lawyers, accountants and financial planners who advise them) have been searching for definitive information about bi-national incentives for conserving Canada’s natural heritage.
The new U.S. tax law that went into effect on January 1, 2018 limits itemized deductions making it more difficult to lower your income taxes by making charitable gifts. But there is still an opportunity for you to help American Friends conserve places you love in Canada while also reducing your U.S. taxes. If you have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and are over the age of 70 1/2, you can donate to American Friends using funds in your IRA, and avoid tax on the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your tax-deferred retirement account.
American Friends of Canadian Conservation has operated since 2007 with the goal of protecting Canada’s natural heritage by helping American owners of Canadian lands navigate their way through the complicated legal and tax requirements that come with being cross-border landowners.
“They often don’t know that they’re Canadian taxpayers and they can’t just give the land to their kids,” Sandra Tassel, American Friends program coordinator, told Sault This Week.
“We’ve had people come, ready to donate their property, and find out they have a whopping tax bill because they didn’t know they had to pay capital gains in Canada when they got it from their parents.”
Recognizing that American-owned lands are key conservation properties in many land trust catchment areas in Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has provided funding over three years to American Friends and Ontario Land Trust Alliance to launch the Cross-border Conservation Training Program (CCTP) in 2016.
