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DRAFT/March 27,2026 <br /> • Priority Action 4a: Intensify VAD/EVAD recruiting efforts through direct mail, <br /> County website, direct outreach, and Agricultural Preservation Board <br /> member engagement. <br /> BENCHMARK/PROGRESS INDICATORS FUNDING/RESOURCES <br /> • Increase in annual number of County staff including new proposed <br /> VAD/EVAD enrollees Ag Viability and Farmland <br /> • Increase in VAD/EVAD acreage Stewardship position <br /> (annual) <br /> • Priority Action 4b: Encourage farmers in the VAD/EVAD program to <br /> participate in a conservation easement workshop, and incentivize <br /> enrollment. <br /> BENCHMARK/PROGRESS INDICATORS FUNDING/RESOURCES <br /> • Conservation easement workshop Funding required <br /> held annually <br /> • Number of VAD/EVAD farmer- <br /> participants in workshop <br /> • Priority Action 4c: Fund complimentary easement-related legal and financial <br /> consulting for VAD/EVAD landowners considering putting their land in a <br /> conservation easement. <br /> BENCHMARK/PROGRESS INDICATORS FUNDING/RESOURCES <br /> • Number of VAD/EVAD farmers Funding required <br /> taking advantage of legal <br /> consulting <br /> • Number of VAD/EVAD farmers <br /> entering into conservation <br /> easements <br /> Recommendation 5: Provide farmers with education and resources on transition <br /> planning and farmland conservation. The majority of Orange County <br /> respondents to the 2023 Orange County Farmer and Landowner Survey indicate <br /> a desire to keep their land in farming and an interest in learning about measures <br /> to conserve their farmland (Appendix 1 for summary). However, 7 in 10 lack a <br /> documented transition plan, and very few farms have land in conservation <br /> easements. Priority Actions 5a through 5c provide mechanisms for facilitating <br /> transition planning and conservation of farmland including forestland. <br /> Priority Action 5c provides a mechanism for encouraging conservation and <br /> management of forestland, an important carbon sink (Hurteau, 2021). More <br /> than half of the County's 256,000 acres is forested. The more forestland is <br /> preserved, the more the County's potential to sequester carbon in the interest of <br /> mitigating the impacts of climate change. <br /> 27 <br />