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Preserving
Wilderness and Farm Land
The
Price Of Developing
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Butterfly Hollow Farm ____ The Path Leading Us Here ____ How The Farm Got Its Name ____ Restoring the Old Farmhouse ____ Where The Beefalo Roam ____ Saddle Up The Horses ____ Saving Wilderness and Farm Land ____ Farm Journals ____ Sharing The Farm ____ Guest Book ____ Site Map ____ |
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It
was the wild frontier spirit that drove Americans to settle the wilderness
and vast open spaces. These early settlers transformed the landscape
by clearing forests and draining swamps. They took advantage
of productive soils and built towns and cities near rivers and in
fertile valleys. Farming was often the basis of wealth and trade.
America's most profitable agricultural production still takes place
near population centers. More than half of the value of American
agricultural production comes from the counties in and around urban
areas just like Smith county and metropolitan Nashville here in Tennessee.
These type of areas provide 85 percent of our fresh fruits and vegetables,
79 percent of our dairy products and nearly half of our meat and grain.
Yet population growth in counties with the highest agricultural productivity
are more than twice the national average. Perhaps this
explains why the Nashville Basin has been
declared the agricultural area
in the United States. When people move out of cities, they often do so to escape noise, pollution, deteriorated neighborhoods and crime. However, this leads to further decline in our city centers and often begins a process of re-creating urban problems in the country. As suburbs close to cities become crowded with homes, shopping centers, convenience stores and traffic, people seek homes farther and farther out into rural communities. This scattershot expansion creates demand for subdivisions, public services, retail businesses and professional jobs in areas that were once devoted to resource-based industries such as farming. It's a misunderstanding to think of this type of development as progress. The real price that goes with this progress is often not thought about or understood until it's too late. American Farmland Trust, the nation's leading farmland conservation group, released the study "The Costs and Risks of Scattered Development" which was conducted by researchers at Northern Illinois University. AFT found that despite the high assessed values of land and houses in scattered rural developments, the costs of providing services to these homes is often subsidized by residents in more modest homes in the adjacent communities. The study concludes that residential development consumes more in public services than it pays in taxes, resulting in higher taxes for everyone. Our farmers and land owners on the other hand are maintaining and conserving private land which produces significant public benefits at little or no cost to county residents or taxpayers.
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info@butterflyhollow.com
Butterfly
Hollow
Gordonsville,
TN 38563