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Oct -09 -00 04:381? Triangle Land Conservancy 919 755 9356 R.02 � THE Am & WsnuR 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2000 20A 1 advise and &ijoin those wk) direct the p4per in the trnnorrowc never to advocate any cause for persorial projij or prefernjeltt. I would wish it alo),R y to be "the tocsin. "and to devote itself to the policies of equality and justice to the underpri.vilfged. If the paper Should 4t any time he the voice vfself= jttttrc:st or becn►nc- the spokecmun ujprivilege or se rt hn.jns it would he antrue to its history. — *am tho will of Josephus Daniels, Editor and Publisher 1894 -1948 What won't, save the farm rniers tend to be a cautious Iot, being the original independent busi- >ness owners and at the mercy of weather and other uncontrollable forces. Some officials in charge of farm preser- vation, initiatives might be well- inten- tioned, but some don't seem to grasp those sensibilities when trying to buy or lease development rights from fimners. That probably plays a large role in the nearly imperceptible pace of farm preservation efforts in the Triangle and beyond. Wake, Durham and Orange counties have farmland ordinances that offer farmmers payments, tax breaks and lowered tax values if they formally agree that they and their descendants will never sell their farms for housing devel- opments or office buildings. Governor Hunt insightfully has vowed that the state will save} a million acres from the bulldozer, Yet farmers often express queasiness about the contracts they have to sign, which gives authorities the right to coarse on their property to ensure that the contract's terms are being followed. Ire some cases, owners must agree to follow "best management" farm prac- tices and file formal timber plans. The point of easements is to reward farmers — who tend to appreciate the earth more than the average city- slick- er T who will keep their farms off the market. Saving farms helps save the state's rural heritage, provides air- and water-cleaning benefits and improves a region's quality of life. But agreements need to be simple. The Triangle Land Conservancy, whieh holds four farm easements, properly tries to tailor con- tracts to the wishes of landowners. The public of course needs assurances that a farmer can't back out of an ease- ment, but the terms should not be struc- tured so that farmers are made to feel that essential hieedoms will be trampled. Contracts need to be free of threaten i>ng legalese and heavy- handed- 'rules;_ Farmers have enough reasons to ignore this newfangled preservatiop movement without having more legal rocks in the soil than the family over the ridge.