LAW CLEARS WAY FOR FARMLAND PROTECTION

Mike McCagg

ccSCOOP News

06-19-10 - 9:35 a.m. - A new law will make it easier for farmers and land conservancies to preserve land, but the state’s dire financial straits have put any further farmland conservation efforts on hold.

The legislation approved this week allows not-for-profit organizations to seek state approval for a farmland protection funds. Previously, state officials said, municipalities had to make the formal application, although organizations like the Columbia Land Conservancy often assisted in the process. “This [legislation] allows now not-for-profits to submit applications rather than the towns . . . and removes a couple of the hurdles, making for an easier and quicker process,” said Tony Colyer-Pendas, Director of Conservation Programs. Unfortunately for farmers and organizations, the legislation comes at a time when no new farmland protection projects will be funded.

Jessica Ziehm, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, said the agency's farmland conservation budget of approximately $10 million only allocates enough funds to complete projects already in the works.

“There are a number of projects in the state that are backlogged,” said Colyer-Pendas, “and I confirmed with the deputy commissioner yesterday that any new funds that will be appropriated [in the state budget] will go to backlogged projects.”

In fact, according to Andy Bicking of Scenic Hudson Inc., the budget only covers a small portion of the "backlog" of projects for which the state has agreed to provide funding. "There's a $70 million backlog of projects the state has agreed to, so this $10 million only gets you one-seventh of the way there," said Bicking.

Colyer-Pendas said that could leave a number of area families in the lurch. “We have nine families that we had been speaking with that had been interested in farmland protection . . . now there won’t be any money for them to move forward,” he said.

On a brighter note, Colyer-Pendas said that two farmland protection projects were recently completed in Columbia County—one in New Lebanon and another in Ancram. The 203-acre Shaker View Farm in New Lebanon was protected from future development using a $513,000 Farmland Protection grant and 113 acres of farmland on the Chaseholm Farm in Ancram likewise will forever remain open for agriculture as a result of a $660,186 farmland protection grant paid from the state.

Through the farmland protection grant program, Columbia Land Conservancy officials said they have $6 million to protect 5,300 acres of viable farmland in the county. Bicking said a restoration of funding for conservation programs is a major goal of Scenic Hudson and lobbying efforts targetting restoring those funds in future state budgets are ongoing.