Fed Ag chiefs visit Palmer

August 28, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Packed inside the Palmer Train Depot on Thursday afternoon, tan-faced farmers, ranchers and commercial fishermen sat shoulder to shoulder with high ranking government officials and local politicians.

In all, more than 150 people from across Alaska filled the depot hall to speak with Chuck Connor, the United States Department of Agriculture deputy secretary. Connor listened for more than three hours, as Alaskans lobbied for everything from promoting wild salmon fisheries and rural development programs to the need for more agricultural programs that encourage new farmers and ranchers to enter the business.

Educators, scientists, environmental groups and community development coordinators joined the voices that offered suggestions for the development of the federal 2007 Farm Bill.

Several Mat-Su residents urged the federal government to help preserve farm and ranch lands in the Valley, where the state's most valuable agricultural soil is rapidly losing ground to subdivisions and commercial developments.

"I would not have expected to come to a state your size to hear about farm land protection," secretary Connor said. Thanks to the many comments, however, he said he now has a better understanding of Alaska's need to protect its dwindling crop land.

Rob Wells, president of the Alaska Farm Bureau, Mat-Su chapter, said local agencies have struggled unsuccessfully so far to raise the matching money needed in order to use federal funds that are set aside for preserving private farm and ranch lands.

"Like others who have spoken here today, there is a growing awareness of the challenge," Wells told federal officials. "We are the largest state, but we have limited quality agricultural soils, and they are predominantly within 100 miles of where you're sitting. And those are soils that are coming under extreme pressure from development."

Wells joined fellow farmers in asking the U.S.D.A. to continue offering the matching funds even though Alaska has, so far, been unable to take advantage.

"I think we will, by raising awareness, find a way to take advantage of it," he said.

The Farm and Ranch Land Protection program was established by the 2002 Farm Bill as a way for local communities to partner with the federal government to purchase agricultural easements on farm and ranch land from landowners who voluntarily choose to sell the development rights to their property.

The long-term goal of the program is to preserve these lands for future farmers and ranchers, who might not be able to compete with multimillion-dollar developers to purchase the valuable property.

By helping purchase the development rights, communities can ensure that the next generation of producers can buy land and work the fields.

Over the next two weeks, the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District is assisting with a booth at the Alaska State Fair, to help raise awareness about the need to preserve Mat-Su farm and ranch lands.

U.S.D.A. Undersecretary Mark Rey told the congregation that several other states are successfully purchasing easements through establishing land trusts or voter-approved bond packages that are dedicated for that purpose.

Over the last two years, the U.S.D.A. National Resources Conservation Service returned approximately $2.4 million that could have been used to purchase agricultural easements in Alaska because no qualified agency existed to provide matching funds.

Steve Gallagher, manager of the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp., is working to establish nonprofit status for the newly formed Alaska Farmland Trust Corp., a group attempting to preserve local farmland by helping purchase agricultural easements.

Once nonprofit status is approved, Gallagher said the group will begin accepting funds toward easement purchases.

For more information about the Alaska Farmland Trust, people may contact Gallagher at 745-3390.

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266, or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.