Newspaper InsertFeeding Ourlselves
Guest Column, July 16, 2008
Bill Winney, Wyoming Candidate for Congress
I recently attended the Wyoming Stock Growers Association award ceremony presenting the Environmental Stewardship and Leopold Conservation Awards to Norman & Barbara Pape for their family’s century long ranching stewardship of their land. Norm Pape’s grandfather began their ranch in 1893 and their family has carried this forward through the decades with continual improvement to the land and wildlife.
In speaking with Norm Pape about his family plans, he expressed concern with ensuring that his ranch is passed on to his sons who are ranching it with him today. In effect, he must use elements of the law to ensure transfer without breakup.
The Wyoming Stock Growers Association has made its position clear with regard to passing of ownership within families and the pernicious effects of current inheritance tax law that all too frequently force sale of ranches in order to satisfy these taxes. The WySGA has made it clear that these laws must be changed in order to allow passing of ranches, in toto, within families.
The framers of our basic inheritance tax law intended to break up the fabulous fortunes of the Gilded Era in the United States. Later, as inflation pushed people and families into ever-higher tax brackets, the passing of what had been “family ranches” became very difficult. These very same ranches, and their owners, found them subject to tax burdens that could only be met by sale of assets.
I believe that this is a far larger issue than just inheritance taxes.
As our nation’s population rises, people seek land for homes. As land values rise in response, families that made an adequate living find themselves sitting on assets that can make them wealthy beyond any dream. Such land may be removed from productive agriculture and ranching in order to satisfy demand for residential and commercial usage and to satisfy the taxman.
… And so our productive agricultural land slowly disappears.
Our nation must retain the ability to feed itself. Without this, we will become far more dependent on other nations than we would like. Our current dependency on other nations for petroleum will become national survival when the same applies to food.
Simply: It is in the core interests of our nation to retain the ability to feed itself.
What must we do?
1st: We must remove the disincentive within our tax laws for families to remain on the land working it in agriculture across generations.
2nd: A method to retain good, productive agricultural land intact should be found. Sale of parcels between families for further agricultural use should not affect the tax status of the land.
3rd: Resource extraction (for example, wind farms or mineral extraction while maintaining productive status) without terminating agricultural capability should not affect the tax status of these lands.
We must take a long view of our nation and its ability to remain the productive leader of the world. An ability to feed itself has become a serious concern.
The work done at Pape Ranches that brought this award extends back three generations. In a way, their family history really extends back into the Civil War.
The productivity of Pape Ranch and their respect for the land environment simply could not have occurred had it not extended across so many closely knitted people with a deep and abiding respect and love of their environment and the enormous population of animals occupying it and wildlife crossing through it.
Congress must take note of the directions our free market is taking people. Families are acting in their own best interests given the laws affecting them. Congress must offer families an incentive to remain on their land and to preserve, protect, and, yes, defend it.
To those present at the presentation of this award, with the three generations of the Pape families lined up with Norm and Barbara receiving the award, it is clearly to the benefit of the nation to extend this respect for our land environment well into the future. Congress must begin this process now with revisions to our inheritance tax laws that will bring this to fruition.