farmland and at the same time contain Seattle’s creeping

farmland and at the same time contain Seattle’s creeping sprawl. More than 13,000 acres have been bought to date.), (4) transfer of development rights, still “very much a nono in Virginia” but used in Loudoun County on a voluntarily basis that sidesteps the Dillon Rule restriction (whereby powers not specifically delegated to local government are retained by the state), and (5) control of public services. “If you do not extend roads into the hinterlands, if you do not extend water and sewer lines, then development is dramatically slowed,” Chandler said.

He also noted the effectiveness of land gains taxation programs under which, as in Vermont, those who buy land for purely speculative purposes are taxed on the difference between the purchase price and the sales price, if the property is transfered within six years. “As you might imagine, that slows speculation dramatically.” In addition, Chandler said, the effort to preserve farmland can be aided by voluntary easement donations and the establishment of an agricultural development council which defines agriculture's economic contributioris and the role it plays in the community.

With any farmland preservation program, “farmers had better be involved in it, and from the first,” he noted. “Planners know how to plan, but farmers know how to farm,” and expertise in both fields is necessary. And according to Chandler, the most successful preservation programs are those that allow farmers the latitude to make a little money from limited development.

But the basic prerequisite must always be establishing the “public interest in preserving farms and farmland.” the extension specialist said. There the key is local initiative and “getting in touch with community values, goals, and objectives” because “land is not a personal possession but a part of the community."