10/8/07 Saving Farmland

When I lived in the Willamette Valley it was heartbreaking to watch valuable farmland plowed under for development. Today the I-5 corridor from Vancouver to Salem, Oregon has become one large metropolitan area strung with miles of subdivisions and strip malls . Each year America loses 1.2 million acres of farmland to development. The American Farmland Trust was formed over 25 years ago to protect our best farm and ranch land and improve the economic viability of agriculture. The Farmland Trust uses state and federal dollars to purchase easements that basically wall off encroaching developments from expanding suburbs. These easements purchased from farmers allow the farmers to keep farming and the money the trust pays them, coupled with the tax breaks they receive about equal a developer's purchase price. In the Northwest Farmland Trust is working closely with farmers in the Puget Sound in a novel program to protect salmon habitat and promote agriculture. I encourage you to visit farmland.org to learn about their efforts.