Over the past several years, conservation easements have come under increasing scrutiny. Critics have argued that these private agreements — designed to forever protect open space on private land from development — have resulted in widespread abuses, such as giving too much money in tax breaks or other advantages to the wealthy and powerful.

These concerns prompted an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, which looked into the conservation practices of the nation’s 1,500 land trusts. Land trusts typically "hold" conservation easements, and are responsible for making sure that landowners comply with easement restrictions. Reforms have been promised by the Senate committee, but so far, none have emerged.

Some of the reforms talked about include cutting easement deductions to one-third of their current level and prohibiting easement donors from living on the conserved property. The latter notion is a terrible idea, since farmers and ranchers granting easements typically live on their land.

I represent several land trusts that operate in resort communities, and I know how important these tax incentives can be in conserving land that would otherwise turn into high-end subdivisions affordable by only the very rich. Nearly one-quarter of all the private land in Jackson Hole, including entire highway corridors traveled by millions of tourists annually, is now protected with private conservation easements.

Tax deductions for easement donations are based on the appraised difference between the value of a property before and after an easement is put in place. Nationally, easements have led to the permanent protection of almost 34 million acres of private land. These are magnificent places that the nation has neither the stomach to protect by regulation nor the funds to protect by purchase.

It would take an ostrich to believe that there are no abuses in these conservation easement transactions. By its own admission, the Internal Revenue Service hasn’t bothered to look at easement deductions for nearly 10 years. Although some of us have been arguing publicly that easement transactions must comply with the law, the lack of attention by the IRS provides little incentive to do so. All sorts of things can happen when no one cares whether you obey the law or not.

This is more or less akin to me having written a list of "Dos and Don’ts" for my two children on the refrigerator door and forgetting about it for several years. No wonder the kids are acting up. Merely adding to the list isn’t likely to improve their behavior, either.

That abuses are occurring in the absence of enforcement, however, does not mean that the law is at fault. It is very difficult to justify reform when the existing law has never been seriously enforced.

The public is not privy to IRS audits unless they go to court, but out of the over 100 reported court cases involving IRS challenges to deductions for conservation easements, only four involved the substance of a conservation easement instead of merely challenging an appraisal.

What we need now is enforcement, not major reform. We need the IRS, land trusts, landowner advisors, appraisers, and accountants who deal with this stuff, to learn the law and respect it. This will come through enforcement of the existing law, and through education — perhaps mandatory education — for land trusts.

The problem is that legislating reform is cheap, while enforcing the law knowledgeably and consistently is not. But if we want to ensure that taxpayers are getting their money’s worth from this innovative and highly effective tax program, it is enforcement that is most likely to do the trick.

Fortunately, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who is leading the charge on abuse investigation, and others, such as Sens. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., seem to realize that land trusts are getting the message to shape up. They also seem willing to let land trusts prove that they can address abuses in their midst before launching draconian reforms.

Meanwhile, the IRS recently initiated audits of over 250 easement deductions. There is no doubt that these audits will provide a valuable learning experience for all of us, including the IRS. Scrutiny provides an important incentive for compliance with the law, and for learning how to comply. It’s an incentive that’s been absent for far too long.

I hope that major reform of the law can be deferred until these renewed efforts to enforce the law show us whether we need reform at all.

Tim Lindstrom is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He is a lawyer in Jackson, Wyoming, specializing in conservation easements, and he and his family have donated easements on farms in Michigan and Virginia.