West Virginia Success Story

Hardy County’s Newest FRPP Farm

Program or Category: Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP)

Overview: The land in the U.S. 220 corridor is being rapidly urbanized because of Moorefield area industrial growth and rising interest in land for vacation homes from residents of the Washington-Baltimore area. Extension of Corridor H from Wardensville to Moorefield makes the Old Fields area more vulnerable.

Accomplishments: The farm that has been in George and Miriam Leatherman’s family since the 1890’s won’t be sold for development. Instead, a conservation easement on 155 acres of their farm preserves the agricultural viability and general productive capacity into perpetuity. The Leatherman’s became the first farmers in Hardy County to preserve farmland using county funding. It was also the first involvement of the Potomac Conservancy in FRPP. The Potomac Conservancy conducted the surveys to ensure the property met the program standards and will monitor the land for future program compliance.

Program Benefits to Landowner: The Leatherman’s have a history of being involved with the conservation community. They received financial compensation for the easement on their land and will continue farming the 155 acres. The conservation easement is the difference between the highest land farming and development land value. Half the funding came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and half from a county fund used to match federal money for farmland preservation.

Program Benefits to Community: The easement stipulates the land cannot be used for anything but agriculture. Once protected by conservation easements, this land is shielded from development pressure and continues to support our safe and abundant food supply. The Chesapeake Bay benefits because well-managed farmland can absorb and filter pollutants that runoff asphalt and buildings. Farmers have nutrient management plans to ensure excess fertilizer isn't washed into streams.

Contact:
Ed Kesecker, District Conservationist
Ed.Kesecker@wv.usda.gov

Moorefield Field Office—Serving Hardy County, WV
223 North Main Street
Moorefield, WV 26836
Telephone: (304) 530-2825
Fax: (304) 530-2086

The Leatherman’s are the most recent farmers in Hardy County to preserve farmland using FRPP. Seated are Mr. and Mrs. George T. Leatherman, III. Standing from left to right: Ron Hilliard (NRCS), Heather Richards (Potomac Conservancy), Ed Kesecker (NRCS), Dennis Funk (Hardy Co. Farmland Protection Board), Don Biller (HCFBP), and Bradley Dyer (HCFPB).

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