Farmers Unite to Preserve Their Fields: In Calif., 8 Join Pact to Put Developers on Hold

The Washington Post ^ | May 18, 2003 | Rene Sanchez

[madfly]

MADERA, Calif. -- The only way of life that Denis Prosperi and his ancestors here have ever known is disappearing. He hears the same unsettling news all the time. Another farmer gives up and cashes out. And more rooftops start rising up in place of the great multitude of crops that have long swept across and sustained this land.

Prosperi figured that might be his fate, too. But he is busy this spring tending to fields of almonds and grapes, same as ever. So are all of his neighbors. No one is budging from his farm -- for good.

"We couldn't stop what's happening unless we acted collectively," Prosperi said one recent afternoon as he looked out past his crops at a landscape lined with newly built neighborhoods. "And we had a chance to do it now, or never."

The rare and momentous stand they all are making against development in this dusty farm town is not just rippling across California's vast San Joaquin Valley, which is one of the world's largest and most productive agricultural regions. It is catching the attention of farmers nationwide who are fighting losing battles against urban sprawl.

The "Madera Eight," as Prosperi and his neighbors are commonly known these days, are fast becoming farming folk heroes.

[madfly]

Related Press Release from CA Dept. of Conservation

[madfly]

Farmland Security Perimeter

. . . ping!

[widowithfoursons]

Well, after going to their website they appear to be just another enviro wacko save the land org. What hit me wrong was the govt grants given out. Looks like another case of govt subsidy for the wrong reasons.

[Larry Lucido]

Another farmer gives up and cashes out.

Unless someone held a gun to the farmer's head, I doubt "gives up" reflects anything other than the reporter's bias.

[hedgetrimmer]

You want to preserve farmland in California? Stop illegal immigration, don't give up your property rights to a land trust!

Ask the fellow in Half Moon Bay, CA, about the land trust that promised him he could farm in perpetuity if he gave is land up. Well they lied. They just took away his water. He is not farming anymore, and he has no land anymore.

While you are stopping illegal immigration, stop the land grabbing government from taking so much land out of private hands. All those greenbelts, open spaces and wilderness areas come at a price that is more than money. It takes away space from people, and concentrates them into smaller and smaller areas. This is defacto putting people in cages.

[freekitty]

Being that my husband is from Fresno, I hope the "great breadbasket" of the world will continue in as much private, real American ownership as possible.

[madfly]

My mistake. I thought they did this privately and were just the "Madera Eight".

I see their ninth "partner" is the American Farmland Trust, a nationwide farmland conservation organization.

[freekitty]

The government pays non Americans about $2,500 a month to farm the land, plus money for housing, medical and cars, etc. Great bunch, aren't they? I should say we pay, without our permission. They have runied CA. The crooks in CA are unbelievable. The people there should not only get rid of Davis and his bunch, but put them behind bars where they really belong. It's not enough to impeach him; but that is a great start. They should also freeze his assets. I wonder how big mouth and abusive he would be with no money and no control?

[sergeantdave]

Your warning is well founded. Never, never sign a land conservation contract until consulting with an attoney, preferably one practiced in property matters. A land conservation contract can place you and your land in permanent servitude to a third party.

Hidden away in these conservation easements are stipulations that a third party, not necessarily the one you signed the contract with, can dictate conditions under which you may use your land. You can be sued for something as simple as adding an addition to your home or cutting trees or brush. In essence, many of these land conservation contracts make you a serf to another's whims.

Furthermore, conservation easements can severly depress the value of your property and also make you ineligible for loans using your property as collateral. These land servitude contracts should be made illegal, or at least contain sunset clauses.

[widowithfoursons]

Like they say, follow the money.

[firewalk]

bttt

[SierraWasp]

See how clever the camophlage can be. This thread goes right along with the one you started about the Washington Post editorial on The Nature Conservancy.

I'm not a bible thumper, but... "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (the whirlwind, that is)

[madfly]

Amen, your FreeRadicalness!

[marsh2]

"What emerged from marathon talks was a pact in which each of them sold their rights to ever have their land used for housing or businesses."

These agreements freeze land use forever. They also commonly have a third party suit provision that enables a third party to sue to enforce the interests of conservation against the underlying fee. http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/special_issues/land_trusts.htm
http://www.paragonpowerhouse.org/conservation_easements.htm
http://www.paragonpowerhouse.org/what_you_need_to_know_about_cons.htm
http://www.nmagriculture.org/Conservationeasmentsfrms.htm
http://www.fb.org/news/nr/nr2000/nr1208.html

As long as rental rates remain competitive, I favor the CRP conservation lease and enrollment of the land in the Williamson Act. The firts program provides a rental income on land managed for conservation instead of crop and the second provides a real estate tax break for land managed for ag or ag compatable use. Both are long-term leases.

When we are in such flux, I do not think it is wise to eliminate land use options by freezing them forever. What if all water is appropriated for environmental use and the land is rendered no longer economically viable for agriculture? Do we box our farmers into a land use they cannot execute and end up holding no economic value in the land at all - just forced open space and invasive weeeds? That is exactly what the extreme enviros want. Now we can point them to consequences of their extreme policies. Either back off or we force people into subdivision. In this way, we show them that healthy ag is the better of the alternatives.

People in our area who are looking at conservation easements are those that are going under as operations. It is a step toward selling out, only the end buyer and the counties will find themselves burdened with these perpetual land uses.

---

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/cepd/crp.htm
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

The Conservation Reserve Program is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners. Through CRP, you can receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland.
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) makes annual rental payments based on the agriculture rental value of the land, and it provides cost-share assistance for up to 50 percent of the participant’s costs in establishing approved conservation practices. Participants enroll in CRP contracts for 10 to 15 years.
The program is administered by the CCC through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and program support is provided by Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cooperative State Research and Education Extension Service, state forestry agencies, and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

[Amerigomag]

Here's how it works in central California.

Large developers commission long term demographic studies and then select sutable developemnt sites within their life time, from 10 to 25 years into the future.

These developers then approach farmers with outrageous sums of money to purchase an option on the land, to be exercised near the farmer's retirement age. Many farmers take the immediate money and feel secure that their land has a solid, no haggle price at the time of their retirement.

Most of the development around Visalia, Fresno and Madera was secured in this manner.