WV Voluntary Farmland Protection Program Growing

Submitted by Patrick Bowen, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations

The WV Voluntary Farmland Protection Program in the state is growing and conserving more and more farms as time rolls on.

Supported by Conservation Districts and their representative supervisors, 19 county farmland protection boards have been established and 16 boards are fully operational. Passed in 2000, the WV Voluntary Farmland Protection Act empowered county commissions to appoint a farmland protection board and charge it with developing a program to voluntarily protect farmlands in their county.

In 2002, the legislature passed an amendment which allowed the county commissions to enact a transfer tax upon real estate exchanges to fund the county programs. The funds collected can only be used to carry out a farmland protection program in the respective county.

County farmland protection boards are funded through the county commission. Once a board develops a program which is approved by the county commission, it can publicize its program and begin taking applications for farmland protection easements. On the basis of a ranking criteria system, farms are scored and ranked according to the locally developed criteria and selected for funding to the limits of funds available in the county program. Typically, the county programs begin with one or two projects per year and as funding and interest grows, more farmland agricultural conservation easements are developed.

The land is protected by a deed of agricultural conservation easement which is developed with the current farm landowner and is recorded in the county court house attached to the deed for the farm. The agricultural conservation easements prevent any further subdivision or development of the tract except for agricultural activities. Farmed woodlots and wetlands are eligible lands and timber may be harvested under a board approved timber management plan developed by a state licensed forester and approved by the board. The WV Farmland Protection Authority has been appointed and has been working at the state level on issues related to training and education and support to the county boards and is working with others to seek state funding of the program and may seek a bonding authority to provide more funds to the effort but that will require legislature action and public support. The boards may apply to the NRCS for Farm and Ranchland Protection Program funds to cost share on purchasing easements in their county. To date, deals have been developed in the following counties using local transfer tax, federal funds, and other funds:

West Virginia Voluntary Farmland Protection

Total Federal FRPP funding: $8.98 million
Total local/county funding: $14.55 million

• Average Easement Value = $3,349 per Acre
• Average Farm Size = 115 Acres
• Range of Farm Sizes = 6 up to 265 Acres
• Range of Easement Values = $250 up to $16,000 per acre
• Highest Offered Easement Value = $35,000 /ac (Not Selected/Withdrawn)

The success of this program was greatly enhanced by the support of WVU Extension, Conservation Districts, and NRCS employees.

Farmland Preservation the topic at Dinner Meetings Submitted by Peg Reese

Pat Bowen, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations in the East Area (left in photo) , and Lavonne Paden, Executive Director for the Farmland Protection Authority (right in photo), hit the road for a series of dinner meetings this year. Audiences in Berkeley, Fayette, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Grant, Jackson, Keyser, Marshall, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, and Summers Counties now have a better understanding of farmland protection goals.

Harold Kessel, retired SCS Area Conservationist (center in photo), was the MC at the Grant County meeting. Harold is serving as the President of the Grant County Farmland Protection Board. At the meeting, they proudly distributed their newly developed Farmland Protection Plan.

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