Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Board voted this week to approve the permanent preservation of 37 farms covering 4,357 acres. With the additional 37 farms, Pennsylvania has preserved 2,687 farms, totaling 308,461 acres.

The farms added this week were from 18 counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Centre, Chester, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Snyder, Union and York. Fifty-five of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are currently enrolled in the program.

The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program was developed in 1988 to help delay 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.

For more information, visit the Farmland Preservation Program webpage.

8/26/2005