BERRYVILLE, VA (Jan. 28, 2019) Governor Ralph Northam recently announced the six recipients of fiscal year 2019 farmland preservation grants, and Clarke County is among the localities awarded funds from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (VDACS) Office of Farmland Preservation.
The FY2019 farmland preservation grants total $633,831. Clarke County received $75,738.77.
VDACS also allocated funding to Albemarle, Fauquier, and Stafford counties as well as the cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. These grant allocations bring the total allocation of state matching funds to $12.4 million since 2008, when Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) funds were first distributed.
The funds are used to permanently preserve working farmland through local PDR programs that compensate landowners who work with localities to preserve their land permanently by voluntarily securing a perpetual conservation easement.
In 2018, Clarke County’s farmland preservation grant totaled $61,600.
“We’ve received this grant every year for a decade, but the amount varies each year,” said Alison Teetor, the county’s natural resource planner and liaison to the Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority. She said the amount depends on Clarke’s matching funds as well as how many of the 23 PDR programs in Virginia apply for farmland preservation grants.
Farmland preservation grants help fund the purchase of conservation easements, Teetor said, though it is not property specific. Individuals who own land in agricultural or forested areas of the county may be eligible.
A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement between a landowner and Clarke County in which the landowner places specific restrictions on the use and development of their property. In return, the property owner is financially compensated and receives estate tax benefits. The property owner may continue to use their agricultural or forestal land as a source of income.
“Preserving Virginia’s working farm and forest lands is a key priority of my administration and a central component to our land conservation strategy,” said Governor Northam in a news release. “By helping these localities and individual landowners protect their most valuable assets, we will ensure that our agricultural sector — Virginia’s largest private industry — remains viable, sustains more than 442,000 jobs in our Commonwealth, and supports our environmental management efforts.”
The Commonwealth has provided state matching funds for certified local PDR programs for 12 years. To date, more than 13,300 acres on 95 farms in 16 localities have been permanently protected, thanks in part with $11.4 million of these funds. VDACS expect that additional easements will close using the remaining funds over the next two years.
At 178-square miles — 113,920 acres — Clarke County Clarke County is the eighth smallest county in Virginia. Because of its successful conservation easement program, more than 23 percent of the county’s open space (26,142 acres) is protected for future generations to enjoy.
For more information, contact Clarke County Natural Resource Planner Alison Teetor at 540-955-5134 or ateetor@clarkecounty.gov. Go to clarkelandconservation.org.
Contact Jen Perkins, Office of Farmland Preservation coordinator, at 804-786-1906 (office), 804-382-6305 (cell), or jennifer.perkins@vdacs.virginia.gov.
