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VOO City to grow onto less prime Salinas Valley farmland, said Sherwood Darington, execu- tive director of the conservancy. "We set up a vision and strategy for sav- ing the best farmland, but we're realists —you can't save every acre of farmland;' Darington said. "We recognize that most of the growth will come from cities as they annex property. We look at each city and determine which is the best farmland and try to develop ease- ments on that land." The conservancy's efforts are among the best in the state at combining good planning with permanently protected farmland, ac- cording to John McCaull, AFT's California regional director. Zoning alone, he said, re- mains a short -term solution dependent upon the whims of current county leadership. In- stead, conservation easements lend a sense of confidence in an agricultural fixture —to the farmers who donate or sell easements, to their farming peers who know they are a part of a farming "bloc" and to non -farm resi- dents who appreciate the local food and green space. "Monterey is the best example in Califor- nia of how PACE [purchase of agricultural conservation easement] projects can provide a greater sense of permanency to land use de- cisions for communities that are surrounded by excellent and profitable farmland," Mc- Caull said. "If we can couple good planning with a coordinated PACE acquisition strate- gy and an agricultural viability program, then we can `lock in' growth patterns and direct urban growth away from the best land." The importance of enhancing agricul- tural viability cannot be overstated, McCaull emphasized. "There exists a perception that instead of being rewarded for the benefits residents and visitors receive from our working landscapes, farmers and ranchers are being asked to do more and more with- out any form of compensation, recognition or regulatory incentives. Enhancing the eco- nomic viability of agriculture within Mon- terey County—and in any farming commu- nity—will provide another incentive for in- dividual landowners and operators to con- tinue and to invest in agriculture." Pierce County, Washington An urbanizing county snaking between the Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains, Pierce County produces berries, vegetables and high -value flower bulbs. But with no local fruit processing centers and a booming commercial sector that has gobbled u p f a r m - l a n d , t h e county's agricultural base is s h r i n k - A M E R I C A N F A R M L A N D S U M M E R 2 0 0 8 tection, say farmers and growth management advocates like Dick Carkner, who chairs the Pierce County Farm Advisory Commission and views neighboring counties like King as models of careful planning for the future of agriculture. Carkner, a fruit and vegetable farmer who clirect- markets his products to Tacoma residents, is at the forefront of a bud- ding movement to stabilize the county's shrinking agricultural base. "We wish we were protecting farniland in a formal process;" Carkner said. "A lot of the best farmland is already lost to develop- ment, in particular in the river valleys. We're well behind the curve, but we're optimistic." Pierce County is a community at the cusp of solid land use planning with agricul- ture as an important element, or so Carkner and others hope. He points to positive signs like the county council and county executive appointing the advisory conunission —and funding it with a modest annual budget —ap- proving a new right -to -farm law and hosting a Farm -City Forum to bring together farm- land protection advocates from western Washington. The Pierce County Farm -City Forum was one of a series AFT launched to bridge the gap between farmers and their growing number of non - farming neighbors. Such events emphasize how an urbanizing area can benefit from agricultural land pre- served nearby and the role city residents play in keeping farming viable. "We were trying to get policymakers, farmers and city residents to listen to one an- other," said Cheryl Oullette, president of the Pierce County Friends of Fanuly Farmers and a local hog fanner who attended the forum. "Farmland loss is a major, major issue; we need to do something if we want these fanners to be here next year." The forum led to the creation of four task forces charged with working on a variety of issues that are likely to be at the core of the county's plan for agriculture, such as creat- ing a PDR program, developing programs to help farmers market their products locally and amending regulations that create barri- ers to economically viable farming. AFT is providing technical assistance. Some farmers have found opportunity in the challenge of saving farmland. Cark- ner, who farms just two miles from Tacoma, has turned his city-side location into an economic windfall, selling his vegetables through a community- supported agricul- ture operation (a shareholder program that provides "subscriptions" of weekly pro- duce to residents who "join" the farm) and city farmers' markets. "The fanners who are struggling are those still competing in the wholesale market as opposed to taking advantage of their prox- inuty to these consumers," he said. "Farmers might complain about the traffic, but those are customers and they buy food. There are a lot of them." Oullette's group has been working hard to generate more local dollars for farmers 17