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143 Page 2 farmland preservation report March 2002 Program would cost $ 100 million per year (Continuedfrompage 1) already been passed by the House, with a lot of sup. The Agricultural Protection Agreements pro- port from both agriculture and environment groups , vide payments to landowners whose lands include p People are reaching across former enemy " significant natural areas " and are 30-year contracts lines to support this . " that have the same effect as rural - lands-protection easements during the period . Contracts include the State would approve pilot TDR areas state ' s right to buy a conservation easement at the Reaching across enemy lines is something that end of the term , or, prior to sale or transfer of the will have to happen even more , as the state endeav- property , even after the 30-year term . Easement ors to put together the other program Gov . Jeb Bush purchase may also occur at any time during the term signed into law last June . The Rural Land Steward - ofthe contract if both parties agree . Landowners ship Area Program, twin to the Rural and Family can receive up to 50 percent of the purchase price of Lands Protection Program , would authorize coun- the agreement up front, with equal annual payments ties to designate rural areas of 50 , 000 to 250 , 000 following * acres , a single area containing both sending and re- The law calls for giving preference to ranch ceiving zones . The pilot program would authorize and timberlands " managed using sustainable prac- five such areas around the state . The areas "shall be tices . "According to Kuester, the primary goal of the located outside of municipalities and established urban growth boundaries, " effectively creating de- program is agricultural protection , but when two velopment zones as well as preservation zones top- scoring farms "are equal for sustainable attrib- within rural areas . "Transferable rural land use utes, those properties will compete with natural re- credits" would only exist in the designated areas . source attributes . " The rules committee determined The pilot program is still in the discussion that the three top natural resource attributes most stage , according to Walker Banning of the Florida important for the state are significant species habi - Department of Community Affairs, which adminis- tat, groundwater recharge, and natural floodplain ters the state " s growth management concurrence protection . law . "We have not excluded cropland, " said Evans, "1 spend a lot of time on the phone . People are "but the emphasis is on agricultural land with sig- mulling the concept over. So far, no takers," Ban - nificant resource values, " and rangeland and forest Wing said . provides water quality protection and wildlife habi - Recognizing the difficulty of establishing tat in addition to agricultural production , transfer of development rights programs , the Flor- In its assessment report prepared for the legis - ida Stewardship Foundation garnered a private lature, the Division of Forestry recommended that foundation grant to organize the Rural Lands Stew- the program ' s objective should be "to protect one ardship Council . Made up of farm and environment acre of agricultural land for every acre lost over the groups , as well as the lead state agencies involved next decade . " That would mean a 900 , 000 -acre and local government representatives , Craig Evans preservation goal under current estimates that the said members have already been named and the first state will lose 1 . 3 million acres in that time , and, of meeting set for April 10 . those acres, 70 percent from forest and rangeland . The cost over 10 years was estimated at $ 1 . 46 The transfer of development rights (TDR) was billion , roughly $ 100 million per year . Entering the first established for the purpose of farmland preser- public arena cautiously, however, the report recom - vation by Calvert and Montgomery Counties in mended just $25 million for the program ' s inaugu - Maryland , and in the New Jersey Pinelands in the ral year, which happens to fall in one of the worst early 1980s . Since then, several dozen localities na- budget years of the last decade . tionwide have established the legal mechanism to What are the chances of funding? Evans says enable transfers , but few have succeeded in reach - even with the budget shortfall , " it ' s possible . " It has (Contimied on page 3)