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Preserving
Wilderness and Farm Land
Tools For Saving Land
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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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Purchase
of Agricultural Conservation Easements pay farmers to protect their land from development. (PACE) programs allow landowners to sell agricultural conservation easements to a government agency or private conservation organization. The agency or organization usually pays them the difference between the value of the land for agriculture and the value of the land at its highest and best use, which is generally residential or commercial development. After selling an easement, the landowner retains all other rights of ownership, including the right to farm, prevent trespass, sell, or transfer the land to others. An agency or organization that buys an easement does not acquire the right to build anything on the land, but only the right and responsibility to prevent development. Removing the development potential from farmland generally reduces its future market value, which can help facilitate farm transfer to the children of farmers and make the land more affordable to beginning farmers. The reduction in market value can also reduce property taxes and help prevent them from rising. PACE will also provide landowners with liquid capital that can enhance the economic viability of individual farming operations. PACE programs have been funded in a variety of ways such as the Federal Farmland Protect Program that provides matching funds to agencies and local governments, state bonds, an increase in state or local taxes, lottery funds, private donations, property tax increases, and county reserve funds. Pace programs have achieved a noteworthy track record during the past two decades. Collectively state and county programs have protected 490,967 acres of farmland, investing more than $750 million in the preservation of America's farmland.
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info@butterflyhollow.com
Butterfly
Hollow
Gordonsville,
TN 38563