7887

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7887
• Author: Fischer, H., ‎(Wendy E. Hudson, ed.)‎.
• Title: Building Economic Incentives Into The Endangered Species Act, Third Edition.
• USFW Year: 1994.
• USFW - Doc Type: Washington, D.C.
• Copyright Material: NO

Transaction Costs: Several transaction costs need to be considered to develop
further the idea for federal property tax credits:
~gecies Location. Ground locations for endangered and threatened species
habitat is generally imprecise and incomplete. Biological surveys would
be needed in most instances to establish and delineate such habitats.
Locational information for candidate species is even less available. As yet,
there is no working definition of "significant habitat supporting biological
diversity." A system for defining and prioritizing lands must be developed
before keylands supporting biodiversity could be made eligible for thetax
credit program.3
Acreag~Quantification and Delineation. Land surveys to quantify
and delineate eligible acreage would be needed.
Management Plan Development. Plans would have to be developed by a
qualified biologist or land planner. Staff and field time by FWS personnel
would be required.
Compliance Monitoring. Periodic monitoring would be needed to ensure
compliance with the plans' provisions.
Research Questions and Issues: The key research questions are determining the
amount of acreage eligible for such a credit program, and determining the effec-
tiveness of this level of tax credit. Another key research question is determining
the funding levels needed to enact such a credit program. Data needed to establish
the tax credit levels include:
• Amount of privately held acreage supporting endangered species
habitat.
• Number of private land owners holding title to land supporting endan-
gered species habitat.
• Amount of local and state property taxes paid on private land support-
ing endangered species habitat.
• Tax rates on private lands supporting endangered species habitat.
Prouosal 2 -Tax Credits for Habitat and Improvement
Description: Federal tax credits would be allowed for all expenses incurred in
improving degraded habitat, or creating new habitat, for endangered, threatened,
3 A positive benefit from the tax credit program would be the data generated on species location
and habitat types on private lands. As noted, such data are generally incomplete and imprecise.
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