USDA Announces Amendments to Interim Final Rule and Public Comment Period for the Farm And Ranch Lands Protection Program

MORGANTOWN, WV, Aug. 1, 2006 — Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announces the release of an amended interim final rule for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) with a request for public comment. FRPP helps landowners protect their land by providing matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranch land in agricultural uses.

"America’s prime farm and ranch lands are among our most valuable national resources," said Pat Bowen, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations. "Conservation programs like FRPP help farmers and ranchers protect these resources and provide safe and abundant food and fiber for the entire nation.” USDA proposes that land eligibility criteria should focus on preserving the nation’s most critical farm and ranch lands resources. Public comments on the rule will be accepted for 60 days from the date the rule appears in the Federal Register. Send comments by mail to the Easement Program Division, NRCS, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 6819–S, Washington, DC 20250–1400, or fax comments to (202) 720–9689.

This year, $1,933,575 was available to protect agricultural land in West Virginia through FRPP. In 2005, $1,979,001 in federal FRPP funds were provided to protect 1429 acres of farmland with an easement value of $5.82 million in West Virginia. FRPP protects productive agricultural land by purchasing conservation easements to limit conversion of farm and ranch lands to non-agricultural uses.

Using existing programs, USDA partners with State, tribal, or local governments and non-government organizations to acquire conservation easements or other interests in land from landowners. USDA provides up to 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement in this voluntary program. State and local entities can match that amount, including the use of landowner donations.

The eligible farm or ranch land must have the following characteristics:

• contain productive soils or historic or archaeological sites;
• be part of a pending offer from a non-governmental organization, state, tribe or local farmland protection program;
• be privately owned;
• have a conservation plan for highly erodible soils;
• be large enough to sustain agricultural production;
• be accessible to markets for what the land produces; and
• be situated in a landscape that avoids agricultural fragmentation that supports long-term agricultural production.

For more information on FRPP, please contact Patrick Bowen at (304) 457-1118, extension 105, or Patrick.Bowen@wv.usda.gov. For information on other conservation programs, contact your local NRCS office, listed in the telephone book under U.S. Department of Agriculture, or online visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov. This amended FRPP interim final rule can be viewed at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/frpp

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