Farmland Security Perimeter to Safeguard Central Valley Farms;
Model for Nationwide Farmland Protection, Urban Growth Management

press release

MADERA, Calif., Sept. 25, 2002/U.S. Newswire/ -- Eight landowners
have banded together to create a "farmland security perimeter" just
outside of the City of Madera, which will permanently protect 440
acres of Central Valley farmland and greatly reduce development
pressure on thousands more. The protected vineyards and field crops
form an urban growth boundary that will prevent the westward growth
of Madera toward 40,000 acres of productive farmland.

"The Madera farmland security perimeter marks the first time
that so many adjacent landowners in the western United States have
protected their farms from development in this type of
simultaneous, mutually-binding transaction," said American Farmland
Trust President Ralph Grossi. "If one landowner had decided not to
proceed, the whole deal would have come apart. This goes to show
that a group of dedicated farmers, working together, can protect
their agricultural livelihoods and shape the future of their
community."

The willing landowners had an experienced partner in American
Farmland Trust (AFT), a nationwide farmland conservation
organization. AFT brought the farmers together to craft a strategy
for the perimeter. AFT then worked with local, state and federal
agencies, acquiring grants from the California Department of
Conservation's California Farmland Conservancy Program (CFCP) and
the USDA National Resources Conservation Service's Farmland
Protection Program (FPP) to purchase agricultural conservation
easements on the farms. Through easement transactions, farmers
relinquish the non-agricultural development potential of their land
while retaining control of their operations.

The CFCP grant was $2.2 million, the largest in the program's
history. The $1.1 million federal grant was the largest FPP
conservation easement USDA has awarded in California. The
landowners involved in the perimeter donated $1.25 million to the
effort by accepting less than full value for the easements.

"These farmers recognize the importance of agriculture to the
Central Valley and California's economy," said Darryl Young,
director of the California Department of Conservation. "We salute
them not only for making this decision, but also for setting an
example that other agricultural landowners in the county and state
can follow."

"Placing an easement on the farm was not only an alternative to
selling for development, it has also helped my bottom line," said
farmer Dennis Prosperi. "By allowing a farmer to cash in on the
equity of the farm, easements can be a sound business decision."

"The landowners had a vision for protecting the things they
value-their farmland, their lifestyle and their communities," said
Chuck Bell, state conservationist for the USDA's Natural Resources
Conservation Service, which administers FPP. "The community
confirmed that protecting prime farmland was also their goal. The
USDA and the State of California provided the tools to make that
vision a reality." Bell said that protecting farmland has received
greatly increased visibility and support through the new farm bill,
which increases FPP easement funds by over 1,100 percent from $50
to $569 million over six years.

Both the City and County of Madera have passed resolutions
supporting the creation of the farmland security perimeter. While
more than 40 percent of Madera County is in agricultural usage, the
California Department of Finance projects that its population will
grow from its current 124,300 to 203,200 by 2020. By protecting a
large region of agricultural land on the western edge of the city,
the farmland security perimeter directs Madera's growth toward less
productive land to the east and north.

"The Madera farmland security perimeter will allow the city to
accommodate growth while protecting its high quality farmland, an
investment that will pay off for years to come," said John McCaull,
American Farmland Trust's California regional director.

"As California's population continues to grow, our efforts to
preserve and protect prime farmland becomes ever more important.
The cooperation of these farmers here today in Madera demonstrates
that we can maintain the viability of our agricultural economy by
keeping these lands in agricultural production," said Senator
Costa, author of the legislation that created the California
Farmland Conservancy Program.

According to the California Department of Conservation, nearly
43,000 acres of agricultural land-an area about the size of the
City of Modesto-was urbanized between 1996 and 1998. Nationally,
American Farmland Trust reports that an area of farmland the size
of Delaware is taken out of production each year.

American Farmland Trust is a private, nonprofit farmland
conservation organization founded in 1980 to stop the loss of
productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to
a healthy environment. AFT's national office is located in
Washington D.C. AFT's Visalia field office is located at 1002 West
Main Street, Visalia, CA 93291. Telephone number is 559-627-3708.
For more information, visit AFT's homepage at
http://www.farmland.org.

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