Here is the text of an article I wrote for the Green Times this summer. It is a short overview of current non-profit efforts, and hown a CLT differs from them:
Community Land Trusts; community based non-profit models for preserving working farmland, open space, and affordable housing in the Hudson Valley.
Most of us recognize the challenges facing our rural townships where
working farmland, affordable housing, and ecological habitats are all
threatened by development and rising land values. Across our region
the value of farmland for its potential as a new subdivision, second
home, or country estate far outstrips its agricultural "carrying
capacity". This is more that just another pressure on the next
generation of farmers; it is a real threat to the long term food
security of the millions of people throughout our region.
While many efforts are being made at preserving open space, much still
needs to be done to realistically ensure farmland affordability to the
next generations of farmers that our region will need as our
economies, and communities "re-localize".
What makes a Community Land Trust different from other Non-profit Land Trusts?
Current open space and farmland protection primarily takes two forms;
Donation of Development Rights "DDR's" or Purchase or Development
Rights, "PDR's". Most Land Trusts across the region focus on the
strategy of Donated Development Rights. As non-profits they hold the
voluntarily donated rights of private landowners, and in return the
landowner receives various income and property tax reductions. While
these tax-incentive based strategies have so far been successful at
protecting open space from development, they have had other impacts in
our communities as well. Few farmers have the personal income to
benefit from these incentives, and as a result across the country
these programs have had the unintended consequence of helping drive a
rural land market that has only pushed the value of farmland further
out of reach of new farmers, especially in those areas like the Hudson
Valley where the private estate market is so high. There is another
crucial risk to these donated rights as well; they may or may not be
permanent. As relatively new legal creations they have not yet been
fully tested in the court system when such protected land changes
hands, and new owners fight to remove such restrictions.
As a result, many in the conservation movement who are concerned about
working farmland are focusing their time and resources on PDR
programs. When non-profits or others purchase the development rights
from current land owning farmers, these farm families are strengthened
economically, and often use the money they receive to pay off debts,
capitalize new farm operations, or even buy more land. This strategy
is an important one in protecting the existing farm operations that
have been the heart of our communities for generations. There is still
a risk, though, in that there is no complete guarantee that this
protected land will remain as working farmland, or even that it will
be affordable to the next farmer when the land is sold because
protected land retains such a high value in the market as a personal
estate. And it does not effectively address another critical need in
our region if we are to build a sustainable food supply; how do we get
the next generation of farmers onto the land to feed us all?
This is where a Community Land Trust can be important.
At the heart of Community Land Trust's (CLT) mission is assuring
permanent affordability of farmland and housing. CLT's work by
purchasing critical farmland directly, and making it available in
long-term inheritable leases to farmers. This effectively separates
the farmers needs for long term security, limited equity, and the
opportunities of homeownership and farmland access from the pressures
inherent in a speculative market where farmland is seen as just
another "commodity". Through a CLT model, farmers have wide
opportunities to build equity in a home and agricultural business, and
even transfer that equity to their heirs, while knowing that the lands
they are working are going to stay in farming for generations to come.
The additional benefit to the community of assuring affordable access
to land for farmers is that farmers are much more likely to farm using
sustainable methods if they are not under the financial pressures of
high debts that force many farmers to use inputs and methods they know
are not the best for the environment, but that they feel forced to use
in order to survive economically.
Additionally, as democratic, community-based organizations, CLTs allow
for genuine local control over critical land-use decisions that
affect us all now, and will do so long into the future. Through a CLT
model, farmers and the communities they are part of, can be better
assured that farmland and farm families will continue to be part of
the landscape for generations to come.
The Sustainable Land Stewardship Alliance (SLSA) is a new regional
CLT that is just one of several across the country that is focussing
on the related issues of farmland and housing affordability in our
rural communities. To find out how to be part of the Sustainable Land
Stewardship Alliance, visit: www.Sustainableland.org
To learn more about CLT's, and the CLT movement visit: www.cltnetwork.org/
RSS Feed