FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Skagit County Public Works Publishes Farmland Legacy 2022 Annual Report
Skagit County Public Works has published its 2022 Farmland Legacy Annual Report, chronicling the County?s work protecting local farmland in the past year and over the past quarter century. The report presents data in bite-sized articles and graphic formats that can help provide insight into the role of agriculture in our county and the impacts of protected farmland in preserving agricultural viability.
Farmland under conservation easement protection in Skagit County now totals 14,325 acres.
The report can be accessed online here.?
The 2022 Report covers the following:
- Featured Properties: Meet the Farmers and Farmland Owners who Voluntarily Protected their Land in 2022??
- Centerfold Map of Protected Properties in Western Skagit County
- Acres?Protected & Farmland Data
- Funding Sources & Partnerships?
- Skagit County Agriculture Current Statistics
- Understanding the Work Cycle of a Skagit County Farmer
About the Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program
The Farmland Legacy Program is a county-funded initiative that compensates landowners for placing a perpetual conservation easement on their land. Landowners retain ownership of their land and continue their farming operations as usual. The conservation easement runs with the land, no matter who owns it. The program?s primary goal is to protect Skagit County's vital agricultural productivity.
The Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program is known as one of the most active and successful farmland preservation programs across Washington state, due to the number of protected acres and the ongoing community and county government support.
Despite strong land-use planning, Washington continues to lose farmland to development?nearly 100,000 acres between 2001 and 2016. Over 50% of the land lost was considered the state?s best quality farmland, according to the American Farmland Trust?s recent report. ?
If you have questions or need additional information about the data presented in the Farmland Legacy report, contact Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program Manager Sarah Stoner at?[email protected]?or (360) 416-1417.?For more information on the program, please visit?skagitcounty.net/farmland.
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