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Senate Authorizes Public / Private Partnerships
to Preserve Farmland
HARRISBURG -- The
state Senate today approved legislation authored by Senator Noah Wenger (R-36)
that would enable authorized private non-profit organizations to partner with
governments in the purchase of agricultural conservation easements.
“Pennsylvania’s farmland preservation program has
been very successful, but we have the opportunity to make it even better,”
Wenger said. “My legislation will offer a new public/private partnership that
will bring together the funding efforts of both government and non-governmental
entities to expand the opportunities available to our state’s farmers.”
Current law does not expressly allow for
non-governmental entities to enter into joint easements for the purposes of
farmland preservation, Wenger explained, although there are many benefits in
doing so.
“Many Pennsylvania farms are owned by Amish and
Plain-sect people who want to preserve their farmland, but whose beliefs
discourage them from accepting public money,” Wenger said. “Funding provided by
private non-profit organizations offers a solution to that problem.”
Wenger also noted that these organizations can also
be an important source of additional funding that can be used to purchase
conservation easements. “Although we have preserved more than 300,000 acres of
farmland in the last two decades, more than 2,000 properties are still waiting
because of a lack of funding,” he said.
“The additional funding provided by non-profits
would free up government resources, allowing us to do more today to save
valuable land,” Wenger added. “It would also alleviate a large portion of the
backlog of waiting farms and further ensure the long-term sustainability of
agriculture in Pennsylvania,” Wenger added.
“It is clear that the economic prosperity of the
farming industry is a large factor in the economic prosperity of the entire
Commonwealth. We are in a position today to enhance our existing state programs
to ensure that agriculture remains a top industry in Pennsylvania, and I hope
that the state House will move quickly to pass Senate Bill 723,” Wenger said.
Senate Bill 723 is part of the Preserving the
Pennsylvania Farmer campaign introduced by Wenger and Senator Mike Waugh
(R-York) earlier this month.
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