Dorothy and Ralph Walsh have been offered “very generous” amounts of money from several developers for their 100-acre farm along Carrollton Road near Hampstead.
But the couple sold the rights to develop their property to Carroll County last year “for a fraction” of what developers promised as part of Carroll?s agricultural land preservation program, Dorothy Walsh said.
“I have the satisfaction of knowing that this will remain agricultural land,” she said.
“Every time a developer comes in, it covers more land with blacktop and has negative effects on the environment.”
The Carroll County commissioners have committed $11.6 million to the preservation program in their proposed fiscal 2007 budget.
The county has paid for the easements of about 55,000 acres, more than half of the county?s goal of 100,000. Carroll has a total of 167,000 acres of farmland, said Ralph Robertson, administrator for the preservation program.
“It pushes development inward into the community areas where infrastructureis available,” he said.
Keeping land open saves the county money, because farmland doesn?t require roads, schools and buses, which keeps taxes low, he said.
“Cows don?t go to school,” said Brian Butler, of the Maryland Cooperative Extension in Carroll County.
At the same time, Robertson said, more people are moving to the county for the open spaces, requiring the building of more infrastructure.
Some farmers have refused to opt into the land preservation program. Butler said he knows “a lot of people who aren?t in it,” but wouldn?t reveal the names of any these farmers, because “it?s a really personal decision.”
However, he said some farmers retain the right to develop their land in case of unforeseen hardships, such as low market prices or drought.
That way, farmers “have a lot to sell without selling the whole farm” as a way to make up for a bad year, Butler said.
Others tried to enroll and were not accepted years ago when it was more selective.
Still more know they can get more money from developers than from the county, he said.
Top five counties in nation for preserving farmland
1. Montgomery County, Md.
2. Lancaster County, Pa.
3. Chester County, Pa.
4. Berks County, Pa.
5. Carroll County, Md.
Source: Ralph Robertson, administrator for agricultural land preservation program
