Key farm property to be preserved

By STEVE SZKOTAK Associated Press Writer
Published: July 10, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A 228-acre family farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains is the first property shielded from development under a Virginia program intended to stem the loss of farms and forests.

The Clayton farm outside of Crozet includes 128 prime agricultural acres and more than 6,700 feet of frontage on the protected Beaver Creek Reservoir.

The 2007 General Assembly approved funding totaling $4.2 million to 14 Virginia localities to preserve farmland. The state dollars are matched locally. The program purchases the property’s development rights, and the landowner or farmer still maintains ownership.

Albemarle County received a grant of $403,220 to purchase the development rights on the Clayton farm.

``Over the past decade, Virginia has lost over 60,000 acres of farm and forestland per year to development,’’ Kaine said in a statement Thursday announcing the preservation milestone.

Under the program, landowners are compensated for preserving their land by placing a perpetual conservation easement on it. Albemarle County was among the 14 localities receiving the preservation dollars.

The county that includes Jefferson’s Monticello has been a leader in land preservation. The Crozet preservation marked the 20th working farm it has preserved from development pushed it over the 5,000-acre mark in terms of conservation easements. Including the preservation efforts of conservation groups, the county has 74,000 protected farm and forest acres.

Lee Catlin, community relations director for the county, said the purchase of development rights can ease the pressures on growers who may be tempted by development dollars.

``We look particularly for properties that are protecting critical resources,’’ she said. They include, for instance, mountain ridges, drinking supplies and scenic highways. ``They come to the top of the list.’’

Approximately 8.5 million of Virginia’s 25 million acres is devoted to farmland, according to the Office of Farmland Preservation with the state Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services. That is down from 13.5 million acres devoted to farming in 1960.

In 2003, Virginia had 15.8 million acres of forest, a decline of 180,600 acres since 1992.

Kevin Schmidt, coordinator of the state’s farmland preservation office, said any farm or forest within an hour of Washington is under threat, as is open land in crowded Hampton Roads.

While farmers are feeling development pressures, some also view their property as a retirement nest egg, Schmidt said. Easements can keep those acres in agriculture while compensating a grower for dollars he could be offered from developers.

Kaine has set a goal of protecting 400,000 acres of open space during his term. More than 250,000 acres have been protected in the last two years, the governor’s office said.

In addition to Albemarle, other counties receiving farmland preservation funding totaling $403,220 were: the counties of Clark, Fauquier, Goochland, Isle of Wight, and James City plus the cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

Stafford County received $299,242; Frederick County $265,000; Rappahannock $165,000; New Kent County $150,000; Cumberland County $100,000; and Northampton County $45,000.