Conserving forested land easier under new program

Date: 11/16/2021

WESTERN MASS. – There is a new, more flexible option for conserving land in the Connecticut River Valley. Landowners may now permanently protect forested acreage, not just farmland, and get local help with the paperwork required by the federal Department of Agriculture.

“This particular program is using the main farmland preservation program of the USDA,” said Mark Wamsley, conservation director for Kestrel Land Trust, one of several local agencies working with the new program. “The reason to use the local conservation program, it gives us more flexibility ... It allows us to protect more upland farms, which have more working forests than usual. They’re also eligible.”

Hilltown Land Trust, Franklin Land Trust, and Mass Audubon will also offer local assistance in protecting farms and forests through the Connecting the Connecticut River Watershed program. Those and other organizations secured funding to realize the goals of the program, which are to conserve productive farmland that’s also a significant habitat for wildlife, or that may improve water quality. Acreage with the soil types found in forests, and more dense covering vegetation, may also qualify under the program.

“The benefit to farmland owners is they can protect their land in perpetuity,” said Diane Baedeker-Petit, a public affairs officer for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “There’s no loan and no grant. It’s the purchase of an easement. The government buys an easement on a parcel of land and the owner still retains ownership. They can sell it, they can will it, but it cannot be developed.”

According to Baedeker-Petit, protecting soil is also a main goal of the program.

“The intent of the program is to protect farmland as working farmland, and to protect soil,” Baedeker-Petit said. “Soil is the foundation of everything, literally. Soil is how we grow our food.”

Baedeker-Petit explained that towns can officially designate farmland as a “soil of local importance.” The Connecticut River Valley is rich in soil that figures prominently in the history and economics of the region, that needs to be preserved and protected for future generations. That will be easier under the new program, where owners get help filling out the necessary information.

“This is a call for applicants right now,” Wamsley said. “Contact us, or your local land trust, depending on where you are in the valley. You stand a much better chance of navigating the federal application process” with the help of a local partner. “Everyone’s willing to help and there’s a number of ways in.”

Applications will be ranked according to how the property satisfies the goals of the program for impacts on water quality and wildlife.

Dan Wright, a state conservationist working with the USDA program, agreed that it’s a great way to protect farmlands and forests.

“This is a perfect opportunity,” Wright said, “to work with our partners to preserve these lands and the value they provide to the residents of Massachusetts.”

Landowners interested in protecting their land through the Connecting the Connecticut River Watershed program should have their application package in by March 15, 2022. Information on Department of Agriculture easement programs can be found at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/easements/acep/.