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AFT success stories are born from our commitment to help communities and individuals protect the best land, plan for agriculture and keep the land healthy.
Advancing Farmland Protection
Bringing Leaders in Farmland Protection Together
AFT’s national Farming on the Edge conference took place November 13 - 15 at the University of Delaware, Newark, and was a great success! In more than 40 workshop sessions, experts in farming and ranching, land protection, policy, conservation, growth management and agricultural markets presented their experiences and strategies for preserving America’s farmland for The Next Generation. Another conference highlight was the Let’s Get Fresh! Dinner featuring recipes of nationally acclaimed chefs and farm products from local farmers.
Saving Working Lands in Texas
Since 1999, AFT has driven an effort to establish the first statewide purchase of development rights program in Texas. Our hard work paid off when Governor Rick Perry signed the new Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program into law in June of 2005. Thanks to AFT leading a strong coalition of Texas farm, ranch and conservation organizations, the program will protect the state’s most productive farm and ranch lands.
Gaining Ground in Connecticut
Working closely with key stakeholders, AFT helped write legislation establishing a $30 deed recording fee that finances farmland protection, historic preservation and open space acquisition. The new legislation will generate an estimated $5 million annually for the state’s Farmland Preservation Program. AFT also was successful in increasing bond funding for the program, helping garner an additional $18 million over the next two years.
Guiding Hawaii’s New Legacy Lands Act
AFT worked closely with the Hawaii Farm Bureau and Department of Agriculture to develop a farmland protection program for the state. In 2005, the legislature passed the Legacy Lands Act, which dedicates 10 percent of the real estate transfer tax on luxury home purchases to the Hawaii Land Conservation Fund for outright purchases of conservation easements.
Enhancing Farmland Protection in North Carolina
In North Carolina, AFT’s efforts helped farmers adapt to the state’s rapidly changing landscape. In August, the state General Assembly passed new legislation creating a voluntary agricultural districts program and reviving the state’s farmland protection program, the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. AFT has a seat on the new advisory board to guide the trust fund.
Restoring Conservation Funds in Maryland
As one of the first states to establish a farmland protection program, Maryland has long been a leader in the national farmland conservation movement. AFT served on the executive committee for the Partners of Open Space, a coalition of 120 conservation and environmental groups that worked to undo conservation cuts proposed by the governor. The efforts of AFT and the Partners of Open Space led to the restoration of $73 million, in addition to the $47 million included in Governor Ehrlich’s 2006 budget for land conservation programs.
Increasing Farmland Funding in New York
Despite a difficult budget year, AFT helped win $16 million for New York’s Farmland Protection Program, a 25 percent increase over the previous year’s funding. Thanks to AFT’s work educating New York policymakers about the importance of the program and its popularity among farmers, the amount of funding for the program has doubled since 2003.
Boosting Farmland Protection in Washington
Until 2005, no state funds existed for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements in the Evergreen State. After years of perseverance, AFT finally won support for easements from the agricultural industry, and the state legislature passed a new provision that earmarks funds for farmland protection from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program.
Supporting a Landmark Conservation Act in Georgia
Governor Sonny Perdue signed the Georgia Land Conservation Program into law in April of 2005, bringing to fruition efforts to establish a farmland protection program in the state. The act calls for the protection of prime agricultural and forest lands, making $100 million available to counties for the conservation of farmland and other natural resources. AFT’s expertise helped shape the guidelines for the new program.
Creating a New Local Easement Program in Illinois
In Kendall County, Illinois, elected officials approved legislation enabling the creation of a local farmland protection program. Kendall County, an outer-suburb of Chicago, is one of the fastest growing rural counties in the nation. The county is the second local government in Illinois to take such an action to save farms. AFT also worked closely with the adjacent Kane County in creating the first local farmland protection program in the state.
Acquiring Crucial New Funding for Maine Farms
In November of 2005, 65 percent of Maine voters approved a $12 million bond to provide much needed new funding for the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program, with $1 million of the bond money earmarked for farmland protection. AFT’s testimony during the spring helped win the legislative approval needed to bring the bond package before the public. Given the state’s fiscal situation, the funding represented a significant new investment in Maine’s farms.
Promoting Economic Incentives for Ohio Farmers
Four years of education and outreach by AFT led to the creation of Ohio’s new Agricultural Security Area (ASA) program to help keep Ohio farmland in agriculture. The program, signed into law in March, offers tax abatements to farmers in exchange for enrolling in new voluntary agricultural security areas. AFT worked closely with legislators and other proponents to see the bill through to passage.
Campaigning for Local Land Protection in Michigan
As part of AFT’s longstanding involvement in the fruit-growing region around Traverse Bay in Michigan, we managed a successful campaign for a referendum to fund a local farmland protection program in Acme Township. AFT also worked on efforts to generate funding for farmland protection in several Michigan counties, including Kent County, a key agricultural county under pressure from development.
planning for agriculture
Protecting Agriculture in Urbanizing Counties
In San Diego County, California, AFT is addressing the challenges faced by a top-producing, yet urbanized, agricultural county. Working with county officials and the San Diego Farm Bureau, AFT is developing an innovative plan for the future of agriculture in the nation’s 10th most productive agricultural county. The plan provides a framework for an economically and environmentally sustainable farming industry.
Educating New York Communities in Planning for Agriculture
To promote good planning decisions at the community level, AFT developed a new Guide to Local Planning for Agriculture in New York. The publication, available for free download on AFT’s Web site, advises communities on policies that protect agricultural land and explains how to make traditional planning tools, such as zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans, more farm-friendly.
Steering Successful Rural Planning in Pennsylvania
In Lancaster County, the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, AFT developed a rural strategy for the county’s comprehensive plan and provided technical assistance for the Blue Ribbon Commission and others working to sustain the area’s agricultural industry. In Berks and Schuylkill counties in southeastern Pennsylvania, AFT’s Technical Assistance Services (TAS) completed an assessment of the region’s agricultural viability, making recommendations to improve farm profitability, farmland availability and public appreciation for agriculture.
Designing a Statewide Plan for Maryland Agriculture
Working with key agricultural partners, AFT undertook a strategic plan for the future of Maryland agriculture, developing a series of recommendations to address concerns raised at public listening sessions held across the state. The recommendations, approved in December by the Maryland Agriculture Commission, will help farmers stay profitable and maintain an adequate supply of well-managed farmland.
Training Agricultural Leaders in Massachusetts
In the Connecticut River Valley, AFT reached out to local officials to advance farmland protection in this vital agricultural region. AFT developed and delivered a training curriculum for town agricultural commission members at five regional sessions. By offering training to the volunteer boards, AFT prepared them to proactively engage in farmland protection and planning for agriculture efforts at the local level—a crucial element in this home-rule state.
advancing conservation
Rocky Mountain Agricultural Landowners Guide to Conservation and Sustainability
AFT launched Coleman Eco-Project 2015, a unique 10-year partnership between AFT and Coleman Natural Foods (CNF) to address the critical need to protect America’s working farms and ranches. In one of the first results of the partnership, AFT released the Rocky Mountain Agricultural Landowners Guide to Conservation and Sustainability. The guide provides information about the public programs and private options available in seven Western states to help farmers and ranchers conserve their land and maintain its health for future generations.
Resources for South Carolina Farmers
Recent changes in the tobacco economy, rising land prices and an influx of new residents threaten the future of South Carolina farms. To help South Carolina landowners protect their nearly five million acres of working land, AFT produced the South Carolina Agricultural Landowners Guide. The guide directs landowners to the variety of private, state and federal programs available to help them continue farming and improve the productivity of their land.
Forests on the Edge: Spotlighting the Threat to Our Nation’s Forests
Sprawling development threatens much of our nation’s private forestland. U.S. Forest Service researchers estimate that by 2050, the nation may lose another 23 million acres of forest land. To increase understanding of this growing problem, AFT collaborated with the Forest Service to produce Forests on the Edge: Housing Development on America’s Private Forests. Produced by AFT’s GIS mapping unit, the report vividly depicts the threat to the nation’s privately owned forestland, earning AFT a certificate of appreciation from the Forest Service.
keeping the land healthy
Helping Farmers Reduce the Use of Highly Toxic Pesticides
AFT’s Center for Agriculture in the Environment (CAE) administers grants that help farmers implement integrated pest management (IPM) to control weeds, insects and plant diseases without harm to the environment. Through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s small-grants programs for integrated pest management, AFT has distributed $13 million over the last eight years. With these grants, 6,350 farmers reduced their use of highly toxic pesticides on 900,000 acres by over 2.7 million pounds.
CAE worked with farmers in the Pacific Northwest to reduce their use of pesticides on caneberries, sugar beets and snap beans, and with farmers in the Upper Midwest to implement IPM programs on apples, carrots, cherries, snap beans, peas and potatoes, while hastening the adoption of IPM by U.S. celery growers and growers of wine grapes.
Protecting Salmon Habitat in Washington
AFT is protecting critical salmon habitat in Washington while also saving farmland. In June, AFT worked with the group Shared Strategy of Puget Sound to launch a new grants program called “Pioneers in Conservation.” The grants help Washington farmers protect salmon habitat while also promoting the economic viability of agriculture. With urging from AFT, the newly proposed federal “Salmon Recovery Plan” for Puget Sound includes the recognition that saving farmland needs to be an integral component of future efforts to save salmon.
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