Conservationists seek to preserve Valley lands

PALMER -- A group of farmers, activists and conservationists from around the Valley met Monday afternoon to discuss a new way to preserve agricultural lands across the United States, and to apply some money recently awarded by the USDA to a local farm.

The Farm and Ranch Protection Program, founded in 2002 to preserve the agricultural use and value of farmland, recently showed interest in Mat-Su farms by awarding nearly a million dollars for the preservation of a historic local farm owned by Leroi Heaven. This blessing also holds complications, however, specifically in the necessity of procuring matching funds for the USDA award.

"We're very interested in trying to save the farmland out here," said Wayne Bouwens, chairman of the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District. "But how we're going to do it is a big problem."

The program, which is entirely voluntary, pays farmers the difference between the development value (the amount of money that could be gained if the farm was sold for development) and the agricultural value (the value of the land if sold as a farm, considerably lower than the development value). Once this easement is delivered, the land can only be used for agricultural purposes such as farming, parks, nurseries or greenhouses. It can also be sold to younger farmers wishing to use the land for agriculture at a reduced price, making it easier for farming to continue.

The money provided by USDA must be matched by an independent funding organization. Whatever portion of the $1 million recently allocated by the department used to preserve Heaven's farm must be matched with money from a separate entity. This has been a sticking point for the project, since its participants have had little luck thus far scraping together enough money to make such a match possible.

April Holdren with Great Land Trust, which is attempting to provide the match, said her organization was having some difficulty procuring the 50 percent, but they weren't going to stop looking.

"We're not going to lose hope," Holdren said. "We at least want to show a keen interest in this land, even if we can't come up with all the money we need."

Sterling Grover, who owns a historic farm near the original Springer estate with his siblings, said he would also be interested in preserving the legacy of his farm through an easement. Attendants of the meeting took this as an encouraging sign.

"The more that we come forth and say 'yes, we want to save our farmland,' the more clout we're going to have," Bouwens said.

Holdren said farming in Alaska often doesn't receive the recognition that it deserves, and this recent grant was a step in the right direction.

"We're still just not seen as a farming state," Holdren said. "It's very frustrating."

Kathy Wells with Friends of Mat-Su said that this lack of appreciation for Alaska farms is particularly distressing because she believes that agricultural land is the strongest association that most residents have with the Valley. It is also a prime attractor of new residents to the area and thus is, ironically, partially to blame for the recent developments that encroach upon this land.

"People are moving here because they love those pictures of farmland in front of Pioneer Peak," Wells said. "As farms continue to be encroached across the nation, our Valley farms are becoming part of a larger picture."

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.