Strategic targeting of agricultural conservation easements as a growth management tool

Preserving Large Farming Landscapes: The Case of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

“…Federal, state, and local government programs for farmland preservation, as well as preservation efforts from private, nonprofit land trusts, are wellestablished (Daniels & Bowers, 1997;Liu & Lynch, 2011;Sokolow, 2006aSokolow, , 2006bSokolow & Zurbrugg, 2003;Sorenson, Greene, & Russ, 1997;Stoms, Jantz, Davis, & DeAngelo, 2009). Nevertheless, between 1982 and 2012 more than 42 million acres 1 of land-including at least 24 million acres of agricultural land-were converted to development (U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2015).…”

“…The preservation of farmland has four main goals: (1) protecting highly productive agricultural soils on a long-term basis; (2) maintaining and enhancing local and regional agriculture; (3) providing opportunities to produce fresh local food for local consumers; and (4) preserving large farming landscapes (Stoms et al, 2009). These goals often overlap with goals to slow the rate of farmland loss, limit the fragmentation of farmland, keep farmland affordable for new and expanding farm operators, and provide nearby open space for urban dwellers (Liu & Lynch, 2011;Lynch & Liu, 2007;Stoms et al, 2009).…”

“…These goals often overlap with goals to slow the rate of farmland loss, limit the fragmentation of farmland, keep farmland affordable for new and expanding farm operators, and provide nearby open space for urban dwellers (Liu & Lynch, 2011;Lynch & Liu, 2007;Stoms et al, 2009).…”

“…But if a major goal is to preserve large agricultural landscapes, a farmland preservation program must prioritize land for conservation easement acquisition (Sokolow & Zurbrugg, 2003;Tulloch, Myers, Hasse, Parks, & Lathrop, 2003). To assess the effectiveness of a prioritization strategy, it is important to determine whether farmland is being preserved in contiguous blocks rather than in scattered parcels, and in locations consistent with public policies, such as comprehensive plans and agricultural zoning, and to manage the location and pattern of growth by limiting or directing urban expansions, such as preservation consistent with an urban growth boundary (Lynch & Liu, 2007;Machado, Stoms, Davis, & Kreitler, 2006;Sokolow, 2006b;Stoms et al, 2009).…”

“…But a farmland preservation program may not actually be able to preserve farmland along urban growth boundaries to make the boundaries more difficult to expand into farming areas. Stoms et al (2009) pointed out this shortcoming in their study of acquisition of agricultural conservation easements in the San Francisco Bay Area.…”