Guest Column
Obama’s Outdoors Initiative Offers a Chance to Protect Farms
The president of American Farmland Trust wants company in making his case to the feds.By Jon Scholl, American Farmland Trust, Guest Writer, Guest Writer, 6-28-10
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| John Scholl, American Farmland Trust, Courtesy Photo | |
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People sometimes talk about farm living as the “simple life.” It’s true that there is an inherent simplicity in connecting to the natural environment. But sustaining our working farms and ranches is anything but simple—requiring collaboration among communities, state and federal agencies as well as public support.
The administration’s new “America’s Great Outdoors” initiative is a federal effort designed to help reconnect Americans with our natural resources and renew our commitment to preserving them for future generations. The national conversation it inspires can be vital to preserving our agricultural heritage for the health of our families, economy and environment.
“Americans have taken extraordinary steps to protect our land, water, wildlife and history for future generations,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said April in launching the initiative, “but today the places we love face new challenges that require new ideas and new strategies to solve.”
Like Secretary Salazar, I, too, have a family tradition of farming and ranching. My family operates a corn and soybean farm in McLean County, Ill.. I understand how working the land helps to strengthen our personal connection to our natural heritage and inspires a stewardship ethic in our children.
Regrettably, the farmlands I grew up appreciating are under assault. Every minute of every day, America loses an acre of farmland . Nearly 1 million acres of farm and ranch land in this country are lost each year. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, more than 4 million acres of active agricultural land were developed—an area nearly the size of the state of Massachusetts!
We’re challenged by the loss of working lands at a time when we are asking more and more from this land than simply the production of food and fiber. Farmers and ranchers worry about losing our livelihoods and family legacies, but every American should be concerned about the loss of our working farm and ranch lands.
In addition to feeding and clothing our families, America’s farms and ranches enhance the quality of life in our communities, provide fiscal stability for local governments and bolster the national economy. These lands also help control flooding, protect wetlands and watersheds, maintain air and water quality and provide food and cover for wildlife. New energy crops like biofuels and wind even have the potential to replace fossil fuels.
The federal government can be an active partner and contributor to the efforts of private landowners, states and communities to secure and manage this resource base for future generations. We welcome the leadership of President Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to raise public awareness about the value of our working farms and ranches. Along with their support and public funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, farm bill conservation and other partnership programs that protect our land and water, we can help to sustain an important part of all of our lives.
Secretaries Salazar and Vilsack are hosting a series of public “listening sessions” about the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative this summer. The first was held in Montana June 2. American Farmland Trust will engage in those discussions. I hope others will join us, as these conversations are critical to sustaining our agricultural heritage and natural resources and inspiring the next generation of stewards.
Jon Scholl is the president of American Farmland Trust, the nation’s leading conservation organization dedicated to saving America’s farm and ranch land, promoting environmentally sound farming practices and supporting a sustainable future for farms. Since its founding in 1980 by a group of farmers and citizens concerned about the rapid loss of farmland to development, AFT has helped save millions of acres of farmland from development and led the way for the adoption of conservation practices on millions more.
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Comments
Farming is a young man's life.
That's not correct. The average age of American ag producers is in the 60's or so.
Mr. Scholl's item here sends a big signal. For all the screaming about national monuments, it's kind of obvious that the land trusts that have treated LWCF as their pet entitlement are licking their chops and will be at the trough for every dime...that is, if offshore drilling continues. Gotta love the irony.
The big question that AFT never gets around to asking when it "saves" the ground is -- what happens when the "saved" farm is no longer viable as a farm, due to loss of support businesses, or markets, or food fads, or water, or the kids just have had enough? Then who holds the bag?
I believe the importance of conserving working lands lies in their potential to remain available for agriculture. Conservation easements do not compel a specific use, generally they simply limit development, so someone may choose to buy a conserved farm/ranch for an artist retreat, a B&B;, a private hunting property, etc.
That's my two cents...