S.J. Quinney College of Law

This program is unique in the nation.

It will address how to value conservation easements (CEs) and prepare qualified appraisals for tax-deductible CE donations. Attendees will be provided with extensive materials—including relevant laws, regulations, cases, and sample appraisal provisions—to use as a desktop guide.

The five panelists for the program have more than 160 years of collective CE experience, and include two attorneys formerly with the IRS who will offer exclusive insights regarding CE valuation and appraisals. A Lead IRS Appraiser will also join the program as a special guest at the end of the day to discuss common problems the IRS sees in CE appraisals and answer questions from attendees.

Why be involved in CE appraisals? Appraisers who can competently value CEs for federal tax purposes are in high demand and can charge rates commensurate with their specialized knowledge. This work will get you “behind the gate” to see some of the most beautiful properties in the nation. This work will also allow you to build a legacy of involvement in land protection; two of our panelists, both CE specialists, have collectively helped protect more than 2 million acres with CEs, from gorgeous Southern plantations to majestic Rocky Mountain ranches.

Others interested in CE donations will also benefit greatly from this course, including attorneys, land trust personnel, government employees, policymakers, and landowners.

Panelists

• Gerald R. Barber, Certified General Appraiser, Conservation Easement Specialist, Landscape Architect/Land Planner, President/Founder of Barber & Mann, Inc.
• Karin Gross, K. Tyson Law; Former Special Counsel, IRS Office of Chief Counsel
• Stephen J. Small, Esq., Of Counsel, Wagner Law Group; Formerly with the IRS and one of the principal drafters of the CE Treasury Regulations
• Kimberly B. Tyson, K. Tyson Law; Former Senior Counsel, IRS Office of Chief Counsel
• Nancy A. McLaughlin, Samuel D. Thurman Endowed Professor of Law, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

Special Guest

• Raymond H. Krasinski, Lead IRS Appraiser, MBA, MAI, AI-GRS, ASA, IFA, GAA, RAA

Panelist Bios

Gerald R. Barber is a certified general appraiser, conservation easement specialist, registered landscape architect, land planner, and real estate broker. He founded Barber and Mann Inc. in 2002, and for the past 22 years he has performed conservation easement and other specialized appraisals, and provided real estate consulting on environmentally sensitive lands for landowners, nonprofits, and agencies in the Southeast and nationally. His firm has provided expert testimony in nine federal tax court cases involving conservation easement donations (Gerald served as the trial expert in five of the cases), and his firm is consulting on multiple cases in progress. After 16 years as president of Oak Lane Inc., a landscape architecture, land planning, and development firm, Gerald served 28 years as the elected tax assessor of Madison County, Mississippi. He also served as Chairman of the Mississippi Appraisal Board for an eight-year term. He has volunteered for over 50 years for several state, regional, and national conservation organizations, and was chairman of the National Wildlife Federation Board of Directors from 1998–2000. To date, Gerald has appraised or reviewed the appraisals for over 170 conservation easements. He also has served as an instructor for multiple conservation easement seminars in the Southeast and nationally.

Karin Gross spent over 30 years at the IRS Office of the Chief Counsel specializing in tax rules for charitable giving, including reporting (Form 8283), substantiation, and appraisal requirements. While working at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Karin was responsible for written guidance on charitable contributions and helped establish litigating positions for the National Office, the Small Business and Self-Employed Division, and the Litigation and Advisory Division. She participated in formal review of the Treasury regulations on qualified appraisals for charitable contribution deductions. Karin trained IRS revenue agents and attorneys nationwide on audit and litigation issues related to charitable contributions, and she was a trusted advisor to IRS Counsel litigators and revenue agents on handling abusive charitable contribution transactions. For many years, Karin was a regular speaker on behalf of the IRS on tax topics related to property donations, including donations of conservation easements and fee interests. She also guest lectured, on a regular basis, at several leading law schools.  In 2008, Karin’s role with the IRS led her to London, where she contributed her expertise to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Before joining the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Karin served in the Office of Legislative Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives, drafting legislation on behalf of Members of Congress and committees. Karin is now with K. Tyson Law, PLLC, a boutique tax law firm that specializes in charitable giving, including conservation easement donations.

Stephen J. Small is a tax attorney with the Wagner Law Group in Boston, Massachusetts, and is recognized as the nation’s leading authority on private land protection options, including conservation easements. Before going into private practice, he was an attorney-advisor in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, where he was the initial draftsman of the federal tax regulations on conservation easements, including the special conservation easement valuation rules. Over close to four decades, Steve has represented individual, corporate, and family owners of ranchland, farmland, forestland, plantations, and family estates on all aspects of conservation easement projects, from inception through recording, including review of qualified appraisal drafts for compliance with IRS rules and preparation of federal Form 8283 and the accompanying Supplemental Statements. He has also advised private tax-exempt organizations and government agency easement holders on pending transactions. Steve has worked directly on hundreds of conservation easement projects in all fifty states that have resulted in the protection of more than 1.5 million acres around the country. Steve has given more than 400 speeches, seminars, and workshops on conservation easements.

Kimberly B. Tyson has 25 years of experience practicing tax law, which began as a student-attorney in a federal tax clinic. She served for 2 years as a U.S. Tax Court law clerk and subsequently practiced law as an attorney in a multinational law firm, advising on employee benefits, tax, and corporate matters. In 2006, Kim joined the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. There, she was promoted to Senior Counsel and Supervisory Attorney. While with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Kim was repeatedly recognized, both individually and as a team member, for making outstanding contributions. In 2022, Kim was named “Attorney of the Year” among all field attorneys in the IRS, nationwide. Kim advised revenue agents and attorneys nationwide regarding tax issues associated with charitable giving and advised leadership in both the IRS and the IRS Office of Chief Counsel regarding these issues. Kim also taught scores of training sessions to revenue agents and IRS attorneys nationwide about civil penalties and conservation easements. Through K. Tyson Law, PLLC, Kim brings her commitment to serve, her creativity, and her work ethic to the private sector, along with her more than 20 years of understanding of inner workings of the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court.

Nancy A. McLaughlin is the Samuel D. Thurman Endowed Professor of Law at University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, and a leading national expert on conservation easements and the tax incentives offered for their donation. She teaches a course annually on conservation easements, including their proper valuation. Her research focuses on conservation easements, tax incentives, and nonprofit governance issues and she writes and lectures extensively on these issues. She also consults with land trusts, landowners, government entities, federal and state regulators, and others regarding conservation easements. Nancy was a member of the ABA’s Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law Section’s Conservation Easement Task Force, which published a report on conservation easements and federal tax law. She served as Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Conservation Easement Act Study Committee. She is a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of Utah Open Lands (a state-wide land trust) and a member of the Lands Protection Committee of Vital Ground (a land trust that conserves and connects habitat for grizzly bears and other wildlife). She served as Associate Reporter for the Restatement of the Law of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations (Americal Law Institute 2021), the first comprehensive source of legal guidance regarding the charitable sector in the U.S. She also is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Special Guest Bio

Raymond H. Krasinski is currently one of three Lead Appraisers with the Large Business and International Division of the IRS, and he has been involved in litigation involving the valuation of conservation easements for federal deduction purposes. He has over 20 years of appraisal teaching experience, including as a continuing education instructor; he is the author of several appraisal continuing education courses; and he has been an AQB Nationally Certified Uniform Standards Instructor for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in real property, personal property, and business valuation. His prior positions include a term of service with the Army Corps of Engineers as the Little Rock District Appraiser covering southern Missouri and Arkansas. He has 28 years of experience in private appraisal practice, and has an active practice in Florida that includes numerous staff appraisers and appraisal trainees. Ray has served on several professional committees and boards, including the National Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) and as a National Governor with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). He also has significant prior experience as an Appraiser Special Magistrate for multiple counties in Florida, as well as significant background and experience in quantitative and statistical analysis.