Field Notes

Jennifer Dempsey, Editor
Jesse Robertson-DuBois, Researcher, Writer
Joan Deely, Researcher, Writer

October 26, 2001

AT LARGE

Land Trust Alliance Releases Results from 2000 National Land Trust Census
On September 12, 2001, the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) released results from the 2000 National Land Trust Census. The report summarizes land protection efforts by more than 1,600 land trusts and includes the most comprehensive statistics available on land protected nationwide by private conservation organizations. According to the census, the land trust movement has reached an important milestone: for the first time since 1891, nonprofit, grassroots land trusts have permanently protected land in all of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Additional findings include:

There were 1,263 local and regional land trusts in 2000, up from 887 in 1990;
As of Dec. 31, 2000, nearly 6.5 million acres had been protected by local and regional land trusts, a 241 percent increase over the 1.9 million acres protected as of 1990'
Land trusts have secured more than 11,670 conservation easements, covering nearly 2.6 million acres, up from the 450,000 acres in 1990;
California, New York and Montana led the nation in the amount of acreage protected by local and regional land trusts;
The South Central portion of the country (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) saw the most rapid growth in the number of land trusts, followed by the Southwest and Southeast in the second and third spots;
In 2000, 46 percent of land trusts protect farm and ranch land, up from 40 percent reported in the 1998 Census.

Contact: Land Trust Alliance, (202) 638-4725

AT LARGE
NACo Finds Rural Counties Lag in Farmland Protection Planning

In July, the National Association of Counties' (NACo) Rural Governance Center released "County Government Survey: Changes and Challenges in the New Millenium" <http://www.NACo.org/programs/comm_dev/rural/rcgsurvey.pdf>. Researched and written by researchers from Ohio University and Colorado State University in conjunction with NACo and the Rural Policy Research Institute, the report analyzes county government in five key areas such as public service provision, economic development, landuse planning, finances and welfare reform.

Survey findings lend support to several common-sense ideas about the differences between rural and urban counties. Among these findings, the following statistics are especially relevant to farmland protection efforts:

Land use planners were employed by only 29 percent of rural counties over the past five years, compared with 73 percent of metropolitan counties and 39 percent of metro-adjacent counties;
Land use plans have been adopted by only 38 percent of rural counties, compared with 64 percent and 46 percent of metropolitan and adjacent counties, respectively;
Farmland preservation policies have been adopted by 39 percent of metropolitan counties, but by only 16 percent of rural counties and 25 percent of adjacent counties;
Zoning is employed by 63 percent of metropolitan governments, but by only 43 and 45 percent of adjacent and rural counties;
More than one quarter of all non-metropolitan counties reported no land use planning activities of any kind, compared with only 10 percent of metropolitan counties. Rural counties (26 percent) and metro-adjacent counties (27 percent) were roughly equivalent in this respect.

According to NACo, the survey results provide base-line measurements of county government activities to inform planning and policy decisions at the national, state and county levels in the new millennium.

Contact: Ed Cilibert, Associate Legislative Director, National Association of Counties, (202) 393-6226

AT LARGE
Grasslands Assessment Identifies Need for Federal Protection
A report released in August by Texas A&M University examines the biological and economic trends affecting U.S. grasslands. Funded by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited, the report highlights the impacts of population and economic growth on grasslands, and examines the direct and indirect impacts of federal farm policy on these ecosystems. Some key findings include:

Historically, grasslands were the dominant vegetative cover on approximately one billion acres of what is now the U.S.- about one-half of the area of the lower 48 states;
Grasslands are important for their contributions to nutrient cycling, carbon storage, hydrological cycles, biotic diversity, agricultural livestock productivity and value for recreational and open space uses;
The extent of grasslands west of the Mississippi River declined by more than 260 million acres between 1850 and 1950, and decreased by another 27 million acres between 1950 and 1990. While historic declines in grassland extent were due to conversion to cropland, more than a third of the decline recorded in the latter period was due to losses to other uses;
Government supports for commodity crops provide a significant incentive to maintain land in crops rather than as grassland.

From this background, the report draws the following policy conclusions:

Private landowners should be included in farm policy solutions for future grasslands protection, restoration and stewardship;
Farm policies should be designed so as not to contribute to the conversion of grasslands to other uses; and
The next farm bill should include increased assistance for restoration of native wildlife habitat and support for wildlife-based land use enterprises.

Release of the report coincides with farm policy discussion in Congress, where two bills-H.R. 2646 and H.R. 2375-would establish new grasslands reserve programs. Enrollment caps under the two programs differ, as does proposed language to implement and administer the programs. "Our grasslands are in a sad state of disrepair, and policies are contributing toward that," according to researcher Neal Wilkins. "We hope this report will start a dialogue that can help bring about some positive changes in that."

The 153-page report is available <http://Landinfo.tamu.edu/presentations/grasslands.html> online and printed copies may be obtained from Texas A&M University.

Contact: Dr. Neal Wilkins, Texas A&M University, (979) 845-7726

CALIFORNIA
Development Proposal Draws Legal Challenge from State
City approval of a development proposal in Elk Grove, California, has sparked a lawsuit from the California Department of Conservation (CDC). According to Erik Vink, assistant director of the department, the lawsuit is the first time the agency has sued a city over violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in approving development on agricultural land.

The suit claims the city violated the CEQA in several ways:

No provision was included to adequately mitigate for the 295-acre loss of farmland of statewide importance;
The environmental impact report failed to address adequately safety considerations concerning a 24-million-gallon propane storage facility nearby; and
Traffic, air quality and habitat loss issues were not properly addressed.

The suit further states that plans for the project ignored the county's 1993 general plan, which discourages leapfrog, car-dependent development.

The project, called Lent Ranch Marketplace, would create a 295-acre shopping mall complex. It would be located several miles from the center of Elk Grove along Highway 99 adjacent to the ecologically significant Cosumnes River and in the midst of actively farmed agricultural land at the edge of Sacramento County's Urban Services Boundary. The county's Policy Planning Commission rejected the project two years earlier, prior to incorporation of Elk Grove. City officials resubmitted the plan shortly after the incorporation process was completed, prompting the state's lawsuit. Vink told the Sacramento Bee that the project represents "a classic leapfrog development. … It would be a pretty strong magnet for attracting urban growth in all the intervening agricultural land."

Citing an economic analysis of the proposed project that suggests 100,000 additional households would be required to support proposed mall complex, a second suit has been filed against Elk Grove by local activist group South County Citizens for Responsible Growth (SSCRG).

Contact: Erik Vink, Assistant Director, California Department of Conservation, (916) 324-0850

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Field Notes back issues
are available here.

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Jennifer Dempsey
Editor

Jesse Robertson-DuBois
Research, Writer

Joan Deely
Research, Writer

Email the editor with your
comments and suggestions.


AT LARGE
Land Trust Alliance Releases Results from 2000 National Land Trust Census On September 12, 2001, the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) released results from the 2000 National Land Trust Census. The report summarizes land protection efforts by more than 1,600 land trusts and includes the most comprehensive statistics available on land protected nationwide by private conservation organizations. According to the census, the land trust movement has reached an important milestone: for the first time since 1891, nonprofit, grassroots land trusts have permanently protected land in all of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Additional findings include: There were 1,263 local and regional land trusts in 2000, up from 887 in 1990; As of Dec. 31, 2000, nearly 6.5 million acres had been protected by local and regional land trusts, a 241 percent increase over the 1.9 million acres protected as of 1990' Land trusts have secured more than 11,670 conservation easements, covering nearly 2.6 million acres, up from the 450,000 acres in 1990; California, New York and Montana led the nation in the amount of acreage protected by local and regional land trusts; The South Central portion of the country (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) saw the most rapid growth in the number of land trusts, followed by the Southwest and Southeast in the second and third spots; In 2000, 46 percent of land trusts protect farm and ranch land, up from 40 percent reported in the 1998 Census. Contact: Land Trust Alliance, (202) 638-4725

AT LARGE NACo Finds Rural Counties Lag in Farmland Protection Planning In July, the National Association of Counties' (NACo) Rural Governance Center released "County Government Survey: Changes and Challenges in the New Millenium" <http://www.NACo.org/programs/comm_dev/rural/rcgsurvey.pdf>. Researched and written by researchers from Ohio University and Colorado State University in conjunction with NACo and the Rural Policy Research Institute, the report analyzes county government in five key areas such as public service provision, economic development, landuse planning, finances and welfare reform. Survey findings lend support to several common-sense ideas about the differences between rural and urban counties. Among these findings, the following statistics are especially relevant to farmland protection efforts: Land use planners were employed by only 29 percent of rural counties over the past five years, compared with 73 percent of metropolitan counties and 39 percent of metro-adjacent counties; Land use plans have been adopted by only 38 percent of rural counties, compared with 64 percent and 46 percent of metropolitan and adjacent counties, respectively; Farmland preservation policies have been adopted by 39 percent of metropolitan counties, but by only 16 percent of rural counties and 25 percent of adjacent counties; Zoning is employed by 63 percent of metropolitan governments, but by only 43 and 45 percent of adjacent and rural counties; More than one quarter of all non-metropolitan counties reported no land use planning activities of any kind, compared with only 10 percent of metropolitan counties. Rural counties (26 percent) and metro-adjacent counties (27 percent) were roughly equivalent in this respect. According to NACo, the survey results provide base-line measurements of county government activities to inform planning and policy decisions at the national, state and county levels in the new millennium. Contact: Ed Cilibert, Associate Legislative Director, National Association of Counties, (202) 393-6226

AT LARGE Grasslands Assessment Identifies Need for Federal Protection A report released in August by Texas A&M University examines the biological and economic trends affecting U.S. grasslands. Funded by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited, the report highlights the impacts of population and economic growth on grasslands, and examines the direct and indirect impacts of federal farm policy on these ecosystems. Some key findings include: Historically, grasslands were the dominant vegetative cover on approximately one billion acres of what is now the U.S.- about one-half of the area of the lower 48 states; Grasslands are important for their contributions to nutrient cycling, carbon storage, hydrological cycles, biotic diversity, agricultural livestock productivity and value for recreational and open space uses; The extent of grasslands west of the Mississippi River declined by more than 260 million acres between 1850 and 1950, and decreased by another 27 million acres between 1950 and 1990. While historic declines in grassland extent were due to conversion to cropland, more than a third of the decline recorded in the latter period was due to losses to other uses; Government supports for commodity crops provide a significant incentive to maintain land in crops rather than as grassland. From this background, the report draws the following policy conclusions: Private landowners should be included in farm policy solutions for future grasslands protection, restoration and stewardship; Farm policies should be designed so as not to contribute to the conversion of grasslands to other uses; and The next farm bill should include increased assistance for restoration of native wildlife habitat and support for wildlife-based land use enterprises. Release of the report coincides with farm policy discussion in Congress, where two bills-H.R. 2646 and H.R. 2375-would establish new grasslands reserve programs. Enrollment caps under the two programs differ, as does proposed language to implement and administer the programs. "Our grasslands are in a sad state of disrepair, and policies are contributing toward that," according to researcher Neal Wilkins. "We hope this report will start a dialogue that can help bring about some positive changes in that." The 153-page report is available <http://Landinfo.tamu.edu/presentations/grasslands.html> online and printed copies may be obtained from Texas A&M University. Contact: Dr. Neal Wilkins, Texas A&M University, (979) 845-7726

CALIFORNIA Development Proposal Draws Legal Challenge from State City approval of a development proposal in Elk Grove, California, has sparked a lawsuit from the California Department of Conservation (CDC). According to Erik Vink, assistant director of the department, the lawsuit is the first time the agency has sued a city over violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in approving development on agricultural land. The suit claims the city violated the CEQA in several ways: No provision was included to adequately mitigate for the 295-acre loss of farmland of statewide importance; The environmental impact report failed to address adequately safety considerations concerning a 24-million-gallon propane storage facility nearby; and Traffic, air quality and habitat loss issues were not properly addressed. The suit further states that plans for the project ignored the county's 1993 general plan, which discourages leapfrog, car-dependent development. The project, called Lent Ranch Marketplace, would create a 295-acre shopping mall complex. It would be located several miles from the center of Elk Grove along Highway 99 adjacent to the ecologically significant Cosumnes River and in the midst of actively farmed agricultural land at the edge of Sacramento County's Urban Services Boundary. The county's Policy Planning Commission rejected the project two years earlier, prior to incorporation of Elk Grove. City officials resubmitted the plan shortly after the incorporation process was completed, prompting the state's lawsuit. Vink told the Sacramento Bee that the project represents "a classic leapfrog development. … It would be a pretty strong magnet for attracting urban growth in all the intervening agricultural land." Citing an economic analysis of the proposed project that suggests 100,000 additional households would be required to support proposed mall complex, a second suit has been filed against Elk Grove by local activist group South County Citizens for Responsible Growth (SSCRG). Contact: Erik Vink, Assistant Director, California Department of Conservation, (916) 324-0850

*Have the Need to Read?* *Field Notes* back issues are available here.	[ << back ]	Jennifer Dempsey Editor Jesse Robertson-DuBois Research, Writer Joan Deely Research, Writer Email the editor with your comments and suggestions.