Protecting Our Farms, Protecting our Communities
Protecting Our Farms, Protecting our Communities
In a proud moment last month, Wisconsin delivered on a promise made to its farmers. The new Working Lands Initiative will modernize Wisconsin’s 30-year-old Farmland Preservation Program, help farmers protect their land through a purchase of agricultural conservation easement program, and support the creation of agricultural enterprise areas. Approval for this initiative underscores the salient point that farms offer more than pastoral beauty—they are the backbone of regional economies and communities, provide food for our tables, and offer significant opportunity to protect our environment and natural resources.
Our working lands can only continue to provide for our communities, our tables, and the environment if we protect them. Over the last year we were able to continue our efforts to help secure a brighter future for farmland in places like Wisconsin. States all across the county are cutting much needed funding for farmland protection programs. We need more programs that take the long view and acknowledge that losing farms and farmland is not good for the economy, the community, or the environment. With farmland disappearing at an alarming rate, every two minutes gone by is another lost acre of farmland.
Sincerely,
Bob Wagner
Senior Director, Farmland Protection
American Farmland Trust
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