Fall 2003

Protecting Farm and Forest Land in the South

by Jim Horne

Protecting farm and forestland is an initiative of the Kerr Center that has evolved over the last two years. We began working with the Oklahoma office of the Trust for Public Land on a farmland protection program in 2001. In May of 2002, the Kerr Center sponsored a three-day workshop in Poteau to inform agricultural professionals and concerned citizens about the various farmland protection tools available to them. The instructors were from the nation’s two leading farmland conservation organizations, the American Farmland Trust and the Trust for Public Land.

Then, in December of 2002 the Kerr Center and other interested citizens who saw a need for an organization to hold and monitor conservation easements, formed the first statewide land trust in Oklahoma, Land Legacy.

To continue this work and expand on it, earlier this year the Kerr Center successfully competed for and won a grant from the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to teach agricultural professionals across the South about the various tools that can be used to protect land.

The Case for Farm and Forestland Protection
Farmland and forestland are vanishing at a rapidly increasing rate around the country. Because the South continues to be a popular alternative to the large urban centers of the West and Northeast, one can imagine that within the next 5-10 years the issues of rampant urbanization and loss of prime and unique farm and forestland will hit the South with full force.

Agricultural professionals from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Extension at all levels in the South will soon have to deal with the development pressures on farm and forestlands that their colleagues in other areas of the country have already had to face.

Within many states, there are already areas of pressure. Atlanta and its surrounding areas are threatened; Dallas and Austin and surrounding areas are threatened; numerous locations throughout Florida are facing mounting urbanization pressures. Forestlands are becoming fragmented and fractionalized as the number of landowners increases while the parcel sizes decrease.

Unfortunately, too much agricultural land is lost because most people are not aware of the measures that can be taken to prevent the loss. We believe therefore that it is imperative for professionals who exert influence in their communities to be trained in the methods and tools that are available for farm and forestland protection. The goal of our project was to create the means for agricultural personnel in each of the southern states and protectorates of the Southern Region SARE to come together for in-depth training in farm and forestland protection.

When designing and managing the training program we sought input from a diverse array of individuals and organizations. A broad based Southern Region Advisory Committee designed the training program that included representatives from 1862 and 1890 land grant universities, NRCS, state agriculture and forestry departments, and NGOs experienced in land protection issues and farmers.

In addition to this advisory council, a management team was formed to implement the training program. It included representatives from the American Farmland Trust (AFT), the Kerr Center, Oklahoma State University, and Langston University.

Meeting Highlights
The workshops were held in Oklahoma City, Atlanta and Memphis this summer. While instructors from the American Farmland Trust conducted the bulk of the training, farmers and/or foresters having experience in land protection were asked to share or teach in the training sessions.

All of the meetings were well attended and consisted of very diverse audiences. The participatory style of instructors Gerry Cohn and Kevin Schmidt kept attendees focused for the intensive day and a half meetings. Inviting farm families and others to share their experiences kept the sessions firmly rooted in reality.

For example, at the Memphis meeting the Holland family of McKenzie, Tennessee, spoke of their struggle to keep their multi-generation land in production agriculture. The family’s battles with the city council, developers, and others were intense and emotionally tough. The audience was spellbound as each member of the family including the grandchildren talked about what the farm meant to them. Eventually the family protected their land with a conservation easement. Their story served as a call for urgent action in all of our communities.

All meetings included breakout discussions that centered on how to do training in each individual state or protectorate. It was in these meetings that the diversity of the audience proved of value in thinking through how best to use farmland protection tools in a community as well as barriers to success.

The level of commitment among the participants was high and now their task is to go back into their communities and stimulate positive action. Jessica Medina of the University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Extension Service wrote of the training she received, "It gave me the power to work harder on this issue in Puerto Rico…it was very important for me to meet all of the people who are handling all of this and recognize that there are so many opportunities to achieve a good farmland preservation program for my beautiful island.. ."

Already, we have seen groups that are continuing the work that started in these three meetings. The Kerr Center will continue to monitor this progress and lend a helping hand to ensure that we protect our farmland from development that is poorly planned and not sustainable.

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