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i5 Page 2 farmland preservation report Changes at top and bottom of ranking Continued from page I the mid- to late 1990s, and then decreasing fo about $7500 per right by 2002. With the new receiving area, prices have doubled, to about. $15,000, Zawitoski said. Development rights are being purchased from the county's Agricultural Reserve, a 93,000 -acre swath of land in the northern part of the county. In the ag preserve, designated in 1981, develop- ment can either occur at one unit per 25 acres (1:25) or be transferred out at one unit per five acres (1:5). Montgomery County also preserved five farms this past year through the state program, more than its usual one or two farms, adding 523 acres to the total. Historically, high land values have made it difficult for Montgomery farmers to consider MALPF offers. The county spent $7.3 million in state and local funds in FY `03, largely due to Rural Legacy Program grants that had to be spent by contract deadlines. Without Rural Legacy funds, the county averages about $1 to $2 million in preservation spending annually. Lancaster County's busiest year was followed with a slowdown and the departure of veteran administrator June Mengel. The past year saw a 869 -acre gain, compared to nearly 10,000 acres gained the year before. Rich Doenges, new executive director of the Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board, will have an opportunity to crank up the acres with $7.5 million available.. Newcomer nudges Howard off list While two counties traded places at the top of the ranking, a notable change occurred at the bottom of the fist as well - Howard County, a lister since 1993, was nudged out of the ranking by its northwest neighbor, Frederick County. Howard held 6th place from 1993 to 1996, July - Aug. 2003 dropped to 8th place in 1997, and to 12th place in 2001, as other counties with more agricultural land and protective zoning found more willing landowners. If lack of agricultural protection zoning and diminishing agricultural land wasn't enough to slow down the county's preservation effort, county officials took a vacation from preserva- tion altogether between March 1996 and May 2000. The program closed shop after using up $55 million in bond money authorized in 1988. After the four -year break, the program was brought back in 2000 with a $15 million bond, but low per -acre offers kept farmers away, keeping the county's pace of preservation slow and usually nonexistent. The county board just last month proposed to raise its per -acre cap from $7500 to $15,000 and to decrease the eligible parcel size from 50 to 25 acres, actions taken years ago by counties with similar demographics in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Frederick County's program has been aggres- sive by comparison, adopting frontline techniques including installment purchase, pioneered by Howard in 1988, and a critical farms program that uses county funds to quickly help threatened farms until state money can be secured. Beginning its installment program just this past May, Frederick has already logged 1,622 acres under installment purchase agreements according to veteran administrator Tim Blaser. Chester County retains third place Third -place Chester County logged 1,768 acres in FY 03 and has $15.4 million for the upcoming year. Chester operates the state pro- gram as well as a local targeted program. Chester commissioners created the Challenge Grant Program for townships in the county's north end, and those townships are beginning to fund their share. The program will not exclude other types of land and allows parcels as small as 25 acres, a criteria likely to be approved by the Continued on page 3