Sprawl Threatens 95 Million Acres Of Farmland

Sprawling urban development will eat up 95 million acres of farmland in the next few decades, according to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Overall, almost 170 million acres of land — including cropland, rangeland, pasture and forest — are threatened, the report found. Environmental Defense today called for Congress to pass legislation to preserve these open spaces.

“Sprawl not only threatens our quality of life by increasing traffic congestion, reducing air and water quality, and destroying wildlife habitat, but sprawl also threatens our primary source of fresh local produce and open space,” said Environmental Defense attorney Scott Faber.

Environmental Defense urged Congress to pass HR 2375, the Working Lands Stewardship Act, championed by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), that annually provides $500 million to buy development rights from farmers and ranchers. Current federal funds are inadequate to meet the needs of farmers seeking to sell these rights. “Farmers offering to sell their development rights are being rejected nine out of 10 times because of inadequate federal funding,” said Faber.

USDA’s Economic Research Service concluded that local, state, and federal land preservation programs may need to spend as much as $130 billion over the next 30 to 50 years to buy development rights on threatened farmland. To view the report, visit http://www.ers.usda.gov/features/sprawl/ on the web.

HR 2375 also provides $2 billion annually for incentives to protect water quality, $500 million for protecting wildlife habitat, and more than $500 million to restore wetlands and grasslands. The bill also eases the transition to organic farming, and provides grants to develop farmers markets.

By contrast, farm legislation approved last week by the House Agriculture Committee would provide only $50 million annually for the Farmland Protection Program, the USDA program that buys development rights from farmers and ranchers. The Agriculture Committee proposal also directs most federal farm spending to large farmers who grow commodities like corn, beans, wheat, rice and cotton. Two-thirds of the nation’s farmers and ranchers would not be eligible for these subsidies.