Not all good news will naturally catch your eye. Some news can slide by, like the fact that the 1997 conservation-use (current-use) valuation tables for land are ready.

That may not look like something that would interest you. But if you own any farm, forest or environmentally sensitive land, it could be big.

The Georgia Department of Revenue developed these tables. They're tools for landowners, but in some ways they help everybody.

"Conservation-use valuation keeps land in farms and forests," said Coleman Dangerfield, an economist with the University of Georgia Extension Service. "The result is more open and green areas for all to enjoy."

The program sets values that reflect farm and forest uses on some land. It may also lower the landowner's county ad valorem tax bill.

In return for a covenant with the county, the landowner agrees to keep the land in its farm or forest use for 10 years.

"Covenants are between qualified landowners and county governments," Dangerfield said. "They allow qualifying farm and forest lands to be valued for county ad valorem taxes based on current (conservation) use. Fair market value is the approach normally used."

Sign-up for the program is through the county tax assessor office before the property tax-return filing deadline. It's March 1 or April 1, depending on the county.

The county extension office has two Georgia maps. Each has a table with the conservation-use land values.

The tax assessor also has the maps and tables and can tell about program details and how to sign up. These tables show the value per acre for all classes of land.

The maps and tables show the valuation areas under the original rules and the revised rules used after 1992. Each year the DOR revises the tables. The legislature sets the guidelines for the changes.

To learn more about the program, get Extension Service Bulletin 1089, "Tax Incentives for the Georgia Landowner." It's $1 per copy at the county extension office.

The publication tells about the '91 timber tax law that appeared to offer tax breaks to large timber firms and big farms. It covers the tax issues of the conservation-use program, too. The one-time county ad valorem tax on timber at harvest is also included.

In 1990, the Georgia General Assembly passed House Resolution 836. The measure offered a constitutional amendment to allow the taxation of farm and forest land to be revised.

After Georgia voters passed the amendment, H.B. 283 became law in 1991. That gave the means to qualify and set values for land under a current-use concept for 1992.

In early 1993, H.B. 66 improved the means to qualify and value land for 1993 and beyond.