The Law of Agricultural Land Preservation in the United States

The Law of Agricultural Land Preservation in the United States PDF

Author: Thomas L. Daniels

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9781641050708

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Agriculture is one of America's leading industries. Until now, there has been not been a single volume that covers the law of agricultural land preservation. This book covers the legal principles, federal and state requirements, and the issues that have arisen in implementing public and private agricultural preservation programs, federal tax and estate laws, court cases, and landowner financial issues and options that affect agricultural land preservation efforts.Agricultural land preservation can help farmers and ranchers by providing needed capital to strengthen the profitability of the agricultural operation, facilitate the transfer of the farm or ranch to the next generation, and offer an alternative to selling land for development. This book provides practical, current guidance for attorneys advising landowning clients who wish to explore agricultural land preservation options, in addition to those who advise private, nonprofit land trusts or government agencies that preserve farmland.

Holding Our Ground

Holding Our Ground PDF

Author: Deborah Bowers

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 1997-03-01

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1610910850

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Farmers, who own or rent most of the private land in America, hold the key not only to the nation's food supply, but also to managing community growth, maintaining an attractive landscape, and protecting water and wildlife resources. While the issue of protecting farmland and open space is not new, the intensity of the challenge has increased. Farmers are harder pressed to make a living, and rural and suburban communities are struggling to accommodate increasing populations and the development that comes with them. Holding Our Ground can help landowners and communities devise and implement effective strategies for protecting farmland. The book: discusses the reasons for protecting farmland and how to make those reasons widely known and understood describes the business of farming, federal government farm programs, and the role of land in farmers's decisions analyzes federal, state, and local farmland protection efforts and techniques explores a variety of land protection options including purchase of development rights; transfer of development rights; private land trusts; and financial, tax, and estate planning reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the farmland protection tools available The authors describe the many challenges involved in protecting farmland and explain how to create a package of techniques that can meet those challenges. In addition, they offer appendixes with model zoning ordinances, nuisance disclaimers, conservation easements, and other documents that individuals and communities need to carry out the programs discussed. Holding Our Ground provides citizens, elected officials, planners, and landowners with a solid basis for understanding the issues behind farmland protection, and will be an invaluable resource in developing techniques and programs for achieving long-term protection goals.

Farmland Protection Program

Farmland Protection Program PDF

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation, and Rural Revitalization

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13:

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The Law of the Land

The Law of the Land PDF

Author: John Opie

Publisher:

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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In The Law of the Land John Opie argues that American agriculture has been and still is controlled by erroneous and harmful historical myths. Contrary to public opinion and textbook gospel, public land policy has often worked against the independent family farmer. The public land survey and sales system, going back to 1785 and covering the western two-thirds of the United States, was supposed to be the most equitable means of making land available to small farmers. Instead, this system encouraged the transfer of land into the hands of those involved primarily in speculation and the amassing of huge profits. The small, cash-poor farmer was the loser, but was still touted as the bulwark of private enterprise. The small farmer's position was further weakened by other systems of public land distribution that favored the railroads, speculators, and state and territorial claims, to cite some examples. The Law of the Land reveals the extent ot which government actions undermined or competed with the old survey and sale system. Ironically, only major federal interventions, including the Reclamation Act in 1902 and the formation of the Soil Conservation Service in 1935, could help the independent farmer. Opie turns his attention to new programs for the protection of farmland, which are often directed toward correction or even removal of the two-hundred-year-old land survey system and its basis in private property rights. He discusses new priorities and new planning that includes farmland preserves and controlled used and development through zoning and tax plans. The Law of the Land ends on a note of urgency. The survival of the independent family farm is at stake and a good deal more.