Agricultural easement programs: Saving agriculture or saving the environment?

Sokolow, A; Lemp, C

Agricultural easement programs: Saving agriculture or saving the environment?

Authors

Alvin D. Sokolow
Cathy Lemp

Authors Affiliations

A.D. Sokolow is Public Policy Specialist, Human and Community Development, UC Davis; C. Lemp is Program Evaluation Consultant, based in Sonora.

Publication Information

Hilgardia 56(1):9-14. DOI:10.3733/ca.v056n01p9. January 2002.

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Abstract

California has 34 local conservation organizations, land trusts and open space districts that seek to protect farmland through conservation easements. In an examination of their mission statements and interviews with managers, we found variations in the extent to which the same easements protect both agricultural production and natural resources. Because they frequently protect farm operations that involve intense cultivation, cropland easements tend to be seen as incompatible with natural resource purposes such as riparian areas, habitat, wetlands and recreational trails.

References

[AFT] American Farmland Trust. Saving American Farmland: What Works. 1997. Washington, DC: 334.

Anderson J. Wildlife habitat and clean farming can be compatible. Linkages. 1995. 1:2-3.

Daniels T, Bowers D. Holding Our Ground: Protecting America's Farms and Farmland. 1997. Washington, DC: Island Press. 334.

Faber PM, Medvitz AG, Sokolow AD, Lemp C. MALT: The land trust experience in Marin County. California Farmland and Urban Pressures: Statewide and Local Perspectives. UC Agricultural Issues Center 1999. Davis, CA: pp.125-40.

[LTA] Land Trust Alliance. 1998 National Directory of Conservation Land Trusts. 1998. Washington, DC:

Vink E., Medvitz AG, Sokolow AD, Lemp C. Farmland conservation in the private sector: California land trusts. California Farmland and Urban Pressures: Statewide and Local Perspectives. UC Agricultural Issues Center 1999. Davis, CA: pp.89-99.

Also in this issue:

Distribution and Dynamics of Aphid (Homoptera: Drepanosiphidae) Populations on Betula pendula in Northern California

Agricultural easements: A farmland preservation tool

Red imported fire ants discovered in Sacramento

Nonnative ants disrupt ecosystems

California a supercolony of Argentine ants

SOD found on UC Berkeley campus

Mondavi gift benefits UC Davis wine and food sciences

Introduction: California increases support for agricultural easements

Agricultural easements limited geographically

Landowners, while pleased with agricultural easements, suggest improvements

Central Valley leaders cautious about agricultural easements

Eradication costs calculated: Red imported fire ants threaten agriculture, wildlife and homes

Minimum tillage practices affect disease and yield of lettuce