When the Ohio Farmland Preservation Task Force released its
report in June,
state lawmakers assured they would take action. The fruit of
their labor is
expected to be introduced into the state legislature next
week.[ep]
The majority of the report is covered in a bill sponsored by
State Rep. Sean
Logan, D-Lisbon, and Rep. Gene Krebs, R-Camden.[ep]
"This bill embodies the recommendations of the Farmland
Preservation Task
Force," Logan said. "We've taken the task force report and put it
into bill
form."[ep]
Logan said he believes the portion of the bill involving
county wide land use
plans will receive the most support.[ep]
"The overall emphasis of the bill is land use management and
planning," Logan
said.[ep]
He added that it was designed to encourage local governments
to adopt land use
plans, but it does not require the plans, but offers incentives
for those who
use them.[ep]
"It's very much a bottom up approach to farmland
preservation," Logan said.[ep]
Logan said the bill will also show that farmland
preservation and the decline
of Ohio cities are linked and one issue can't be addressed
without addressing
the other as well.[ep]
"We're not against converting land," Logan said. " We just
want it to be done
with a more methodical approach. We want smart growth."[ep]
Logan said he has heard from both supporters and opposers,
but believes there
is enough support for the bill to get it approved in both the
Ohio House of
Representatives and the Ohio Senate before the end of the
legislative session.[ep]
"It's a comprehensive bill from what we know," said Karl
Gebhardt, executive
director of the Office of Farmland Preservation, which was
created as a result
of the task force report.[ep]
He said he has not seen the bill and does not know if his
office will support
the bill.[ep]
Kit Fogle, legislative director of the Ohio Farmers Union,
said his group has not decided if it will lend its support to the
bill. He said that while there are many things in the proposed
legislation that his group can support there are also problem
areas.[ep]
He said he would like to see more local control and less of
the state controls
found in the bill.[ep]
"We don't want to be too restrictive about what farmers can
do with their
land," Fogle said.[ep]
Fogle said his group would also like to see the many issues
addressed in
several separate bills rather than the one large bill expected to
be
introduced Tuesday.[ep]
"It's a very complex issue," he said. "It's not an easy
subject to understand
and come up with a solution. When you break it down it makes it
easier to understand. In the committee process there will be a
lot of questions."[ep]
He said farmers union will decide in January if it plans to
support the whole
bill or just pieces of it. The group likes the incentive-based
portions of the bill like the
county land use plans.[ep]
Logan said there was some discussion about breaking the bill
into several
smaller bills, but believes it was better to create one massive
bill because
all of the issues are related.[ep]
He said the larger bill will be more manageable and
shouldn't get tied up in
committee meetings once it is properly explained.[ep]
A second bill involves conservation easements and is
expected to be
introduced by Sen. Grace Drake, R-Solon, later next week.[ep]
"Our bill is just an easement bill," said Ted Berry,
legislative aide to
Drake. "It's very simple. Wayne and Medina counties are ready to
do this."[ep]
The bill allows local governments to purchase or lease
easements to land if
the land owner agrees. The land would then remain open for
farming for at least 30 years.[ep]
Berry said that if the land is no longer functional for
farmland use after 30
years, the owner would be able to negotiate to have the easement
lifted.[ep]
"It allows the property owners to make the decisions
(concerning the land),"
Berry said. "Initially, I don't think you are going to see a lot
of land owners using the
easements."[ep]
He said that as communities become more and more concerned
with farmland
preservation, the use of easements could increase.[ep]
Fogle said his group
also supports the proposed senate bill.[ep]
"It's voluntary," Fogle said. "We like that about it."[ep]
But he added that he does see one potential problem with the
conservation easements bill. He said local communities may have a hard
time coming up with the money to purchase the easements.[ep]
"Money is going to be the big object," Fogle said. "I don't
see (the bill) saving a lot of farmland, but every little bit helps."[ep]
Fogle said he thinks an even bigger issue than preserving
farmland is in preserving farmers by making farming more profitable. He said
that is the best way to preserve family farms. He said neither bill addresses
that issue.[ep]
"If a farmer is making a profit at farming, he won't have to
sell his land," Fogle said.
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