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PA Farmland Preservation Board Protects Another 1,788 Acres
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The Pennsylvania Agricultural Lands Preservation Board has preserved an additional 1,788 acres on 19 farms in 12 counties for future generations through the state’s nationally recognized farmland preservation program.
The preserved farms are located in Berks, Blair, Cambria, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Monroe, Somerset, Sullivan, Union, Washington, Westmoreland and York counties.
During the program’s 23-year history, 455,208 acres on 4,208 farms have been safeguarded for future agricultural production.
“To ensure the future success of the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania, the first step is to preserve our farmland,” said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. “Agriculture isn’t just our number-one industry – the cornerstone of our economy – it’s a way of life for our farm families.
“I thank these producers who set their land aside for agricultural production. They’re enabling a new generation of agriculturalists to keep Pennsylvania growing far into the future.”
The state’s farmland preservation efforts work through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, which was developed in 1988 to help slow the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses.
The program enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, also called development rights, from owners of quality farmland.
Since the program began, state, county and local governments have invested more than $1 billion to preserve farms across Pennsylvania.
Following the board’s October 13 meeting, representatives from the Attorney General’s office led a roundtable discussion about Act 38 of 2005, known as ACRE (Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment). The law allows farmers to operate with fewer limitations from local ordinances.
For more information, visit Agriculture's Farmland Preservation webpage.
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10/17/2011 |
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