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77 �;' :i ;' +' a - 'r.. 'N' *6 pireservati'00 �; :t` '+3 S ►. r� �t @' r� i6 'f ��.. ,�>- � �• _ .,r� r ve "F o, r t Covering the policies, practices and initiatives that save farmland and open space Since 1990 a Deborah Bowers Editor 8TH ANNUAL SURVEY Lancaster moves to top slot in ranking Montgomery County, Md. has relinquished its long -held status as the nation's leader in local farm- land preservation, passing that title to Lancaster County, Pa. Funding and supply of farmland were cited as factors that over the past few years have given Lancaster County a green light for surpassing all otl7%-rs ranked in the Farmland Preservation Report annual "Top 12" survey conducted in July. ".It's the law of diminishing returns," said Mid - Atlantic Land Trust Conference Montgomery's John Zawitoski about the county's new position as number two. "We're not surprised or upset," he said. Nation's Top 12 local programs table, p. 4 -5 During the past year, Lancaster has had $28 million to Montgomery's $6.5 million, and, Lancaster's land in farms, derived by the USDA, is Continued on page 3 Tackle land use, LTA president-says GETTYSBURG, PA — Speaking before about 165 people involved in land conservation, Land Trust Alliance president Rand Wentworth urged his audi- ence to "engage, collaborate and advocate" and to "stretch the limits of what land trusts do and can be." That includes, he said, "doing work in land planning for a future that includes land conservation." The conference gathered together land trust administrators and volunteers from the mid - Atlantic states to Gettysburg College June 21 -22. The spon- sor, the Land Trust Alliance, is a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C. Wentworth, president since March, said land trusts should work with county governments on land use plans. "Think about the muscle we have if we engage collaborately." Looking to the future, Wentworth warned land trust administrators that a "potential catastrophy is on the horizon" unless they practice due diligence by using baseline surveys and assure regular monitoring of easements. "it doesn't matter if your easements are well monitored if your neighbor in the land trust commu- nity goes down, they may take you down with them," Wentworth said, because news media can report stories in a way that make land trust work seem Continued on page 2 Volume 12, Number 6 July - Aug. 2002 Nation's Top 12 local programs ... ............................... 4 -5 Pa. could lower required acres from 50 to 25 .................. 5 Newsbriefs .................................... ............................... 6 Jobpostings .................................... ............................... 8 Farmland Preservation Report is published by Bowers Publishing, Inc. 10 times per year. Subscription rate of $205 includes index and hotline services. Editorial and circulation offices: 900 .La Grange Rd., Street, Maryland 21154 • (410) 692 -2708 • ISSN: 1050 - 6373. © 2002 by Bowers Publishing, Inc. Reproduction in any form, or electronic forwarding of this material without permission from the publisher is prohibited.