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5_1 Page 6 farmland preservation report May 2002 News briefs Conlinued from page 5 ■■■ have preserved 137,093 acres of farmland expressly for agricultural use in 28 of the state's 58 counties. The report will be published In Virginia ... Virginians will have later this year. the chance to vote for a $119 The data would likely put California in third place in a million parks bond, $30 million nationwide ranking of states if the ranking included land trust acres. would go to acquisition of parkland A state program ranking conducted by Farmland Preservation and natural areas. But of greater potential is a proposal by Gov. Report in April was based on acres reported by state - operated Mark Warner to impose a $5 per purchase of development rights programs. That ranking placed ton tipping fee on solid waste, California ninth based on 15,400 acres preserved through the state's which is estimated to generate $76 million a year, to be dedicated to Farmland Conservancy Program. The remainder of the total environmental programs. Some reported by AIC, 121,693 acres, was protected by land trusts with legislative leaders have endorsed private funds or through donation. the plan, which would send 40 percent of the money to the state's According to author Alvin D. Sokolow, a public policy two open space programs, the specialist in human and community development at UC- Davis, the Virginia Land Conservation aim of the report was to count all acres that are protected by Foundation and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. A coalition of agricultural conservation easements by organizations targeting land conservation groups, including agricultural lands. Acres protected primarily for open space with the Piedmont Environmental agriculture as a secondary use were excluded, as were acres Council and The Nature Conservancy, has been lobbying protected by organizations whose missions are to protect habitat and for a dedicated source of funding open space for environmenta„ o ecreationaL oses,. . such as The lrrp since .19.99 and found that Virginia .pu Y Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. needs a minimum -annual'.furid:of. $40 million for land protection. The "Certainly there are thousands of ag acres throughout the state group said the state has 425* covered by easements that don't fit the first category," many located "globally significant conservation in other than the 28 counties in the study, Sokolow said. sites that are unprotected and that the cost of purchasing 30 specific "A part of the distinction is to look at the purposes of top sites would be $20 million. The easement programs" Sokolow said, average per -acre cost of farmland Erik Vink, assistant director of the Department of in the state is $1,925. The coalition stated purchasing easements on 2 Conservation's Division of Land Resource Protection, said he was percent of Virginia's farmland comfortable with the study's results. (170,000 acres) would cost $100 "What [the study] tried to do, which I agree with, is to million if purchased at 30 percent of fair market value. In 1999, a determine what land is being protected for agriculture first and legislative subcommittee foremost ... it has the ring of truth to me as to what is happening recommended $40 million be set out there." aside annually, but the result was a one -year appropriation of $1.75 Vink said there had been a void in documentation of land trust million. The fund did not have the activity pertaining to agriculture. support of then -Gov. Jim Gilmore. "We are in the earl stages, and it's helpful to take an earl Y g p y The state lost 450,000 acres of farmland between 1987 and 1997 look to see if we can learn from our experiences to date." and has nationally important The report includes acres reported by the Sonoma County historic sites threatened by Agricultural and Open Space District, whose activities place the development. In Massachusetts ... A $750 county in the nation's top 10 localities for preserved farmland. Last million bond bill that has been July, Farmland Preservation Report ranked Sonoma County as fifth passed by the Senate still awaits in the nation, with 37,873 acres reported by the district as acfion on the House floor. The fund would provide $45 million to the agricultural lands. But the District's reported total in the AIC report Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program and $15