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Efforts at the federal, state, and local levels are being made to preserve agricultural land threatened by urban sprawl and development. The USDA's data shows that in Texas from 1982 to 1997 the conversion of rural land to urban uses exceeded 2.6 million acres.* American Farmland Trust's studies
point out that between 1992 and 1997, 332,800 acres of prime farmland in Texas was converted to urban uses.
Many communities want to protect agricultural land and timberland not just for its productivity, but also for
its environmental, cultural, and scenic benefits. At the federal level, the 1996 Farm Bill (the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act) authorized $35 million over six years to
state and local program for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements to keep productive farmland in agricultural uses. Through 2001, USDAs farmland protection program has protected
more than 108,000 acres in 28 states. In the 2002 Farm Bill
nearly $100
million in funding was allocated for the farmland protection program (FFP).
The money will be spent over the next ten years for the purchase of development rights on farmland. The Texas office of American Farmland Trust, the Texas Agriculture Commissioner and other conservation and agriculture groups are supporting Purchase of Development Rights legislation for Texas. If passed, Texas would be eligible for federal matching funds to purchase development rights from willing farmers and ranchers and, in turn, protect the resources of those lands: wetlands,aquifer recharge areas, open space, wildllife habitat,and, of course, working farmland.
At the local level an example of how this might work is found in the Michigan township of Peninsula, where
residents voted for a Purchase of Development Rights program in order to preserve surrounding farmlands that were under pressure from development.
Under this program, the township paid selected farmers not to subdivide or sell their land to developers. Here's how it works: If a farm's agricultural value is $2,000 an acre and a developer is willing to pay the landowner $3,500 an acre, the $1,500 per acre difference is considered the "development rights." The township will use program funds to contract to buy the "development rights" and will pay the farmer $1,500 per acre in installment payments over a fifteen-year period.* A conservation easement is the legal instrument used to dilineate the terms of the " development rights."
An agricultural conservation easement is a voluntary, legally recorded agreement between a landowner and a
not-for-profit conservation organization or land trust or local government. The legal agreement ensures that the land under the easement will be available for agriculture or other open-space
uses. The easement limits or prohibits any development or practice that would damage the agricultural or open-space value of the land. The landowner holds title to the land and controls
access to the land. Land that has a conservation easement can be bought, sold, and inherited, but the conservation easement is fixed to the land. The organization holding the easement is
responsible for making sure the terms are being met. There are federal, state, and local tax benefits to be derived from the formation of an easement.
Cities and counties around the country have used different methods to maintain the economic productivity of
agricultural lands and to protect the environmental (water quality/quantity, wildlife habitat), scenic, and cultural benefits of those lands. States like California have enacted legislation
that supports agriculture by providing property tax relief to landowners who want to continue farming but who live in areas where property taxes are increasing due to real estate speculation
and development.
Non profit land trusts in Texas have also been instrumental in saving farmland, open space, scenic lands,
wildlife habitats through the use of voluntary conservation easements. The Texas Land Trust Council serves as a central source of information and assisstance.
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