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Farm Events: |
Farm News: 9,400 Acres Looking For Easement MoneycommentsPosted: 06.10.2010
Early results seem to show that a lot of communities would like to work on trying to preserve their valueable farm land!
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture said they've received 36 applications looking to protect approximately 9,400 acres from future development and ultimate loss of production agriculture. They're applying under the new Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement (PACE) funding. Applications to the program, which is part of the Working Lands Initiative, came in from farms across Wisconsin. The application deadline was June 1st and now evaluators will go through all applications to rank them for qualifying funds. So what communities are interested? Applications were filed by one city, two towns, four counties and six local land trusts on behalf of 36 different farmers in Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Iowa, Jefferson, La Crosse, Marathon, Waukesha, and Waupaca counties.
Under the PACE program, DATCP will provide up to 50 percent matching funds to cooperating entities to purchase permanent easements. The landowner retains ownership and continues to farm but the easement permanently restricts non-agricultural development of the property. The easement remains with the land and all future landowners are bound by the terms of the easement.
Applications will be scored and ranked according to a number of evaluation criteria such as the soil quality for farming, the size of the farm and the percentage of land on the property devoted to cropland, pasture and grassland. Other scoring criteria include: consistency with county and local farmland preservation planning and zoning, the level of community support and the proximity to other protected land.
Ranked applications will be presented to the PACE Advisory Council on July 15th, where the Council will provide recommendations to DATCP for funding. Selected applications will be announced by August 1st.
A second call for applications by DATCP is anticipated in early 2011. |