Beaverdam Creek Holdings, LLC v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue — 11th Cir. (argued August 13, 2026)
Beaverdam Creek Holdings challenges the Tax Court's valuation of a conservation easement on granite-bearing land in Georgia. A conservation easement permanently restricts land use. The court accepted quarrying as the land's highest and best use: the reasonably probable, most valuable use. But it rejected Beaverdam's discounted cash flow model and relied on comparable sales. The issue is whether that was error.
Beaverdam Creek Holdings, LLC v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (No. 25-12624) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, argued August 13, 2026.
Sources
Argument audio — Eleventh Circuit:https://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/oral_argument_recordings/25-12624_08132026.mp3
Argument record — Eleventh Circuit:https://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/oral-argument-recordings?page=0
Tax Court docket and opinion — U.S. Tax Court:https://dawson.ustaxcourt.gov/case-detail/12362-21
26 U.S.C. § 170 — U.S. House of Representatives:https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title26-section170
Conservation easements — Internal Revenue Service:https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/conservation-easements
Conservation-easement valuation rule — GovInfo:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2025-title26-vol4/pdf/CFR-2025-title26-vol4-sec1-170A-14.pdf
Ranch Springs — U.S. Tax Court:https://ustaxcourt.gov/files/documents/164_TC_73-163.pdf
Published-opinion search — Eleventh Circuit:https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/logname.php
Unpublished-opinion search — Eleventh Circuit:https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/logname.php
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:58Counsel for Beaverdam (Appellant)
- 1:24Before-and-After Valuation
- 4:56Discounted Cash Flow and Ranch Springs
- 15:10Counsel for the Commissioner (Appellee)