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On the road to farmland preservation
The Leelanau Peninsula is one of the most beautiful and productive areas of Michigan, and it now can take pride not only in its scenery, but in one of the most innovative privately funded farmland preservation programs in the nation.
If ever a road was worthy of song, M-22 along the Grand Traverse Bay is it.
Spiritually uplifting as it cleverly reveals majestic views, M-22 crosses the 45th Parallel and leads into one of the most awe-inspiring peninsulas in Michigan, a state with no shortage of whimsical natural attributes.
It is here, on the Leelanau Peninsula, where people find their burdens just a little lighter. No fast-food joint can rush people through it. Something older and wiser beckons them to take their time, inhale the fresh water fragrance and dive into the changing colors of orchards, vistas and vineyards.
Idealists might think farmers in Leelanau County have the best of everything. They have hills full of wonderful fruit, a warm breeze from Lake Michigan that bumps the area a full zone on plant hardiness charts, and tourists who leave a little of themselves - and a lot of their money - behind when they return to the suburbs.
But the full-timers here, the multi-generational lifers who cannot be immune to the peninsula's opulence, know what they must do. They must, at some point, block the road that would turn Leelanau into just another haven for summer homes.
But that's where the road splits, leaving farming natives to take Yogi Berra's advice: "When you get to a fork in the road, take it."
Standing where the forks split is the Leelanau Conservancy, which temporarily preserved more than 5,000 acres of Leelanau County farmland thanks to a new program that is much more palatable to farmers on the peninsula than a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program just three years earlier.
"In 2006, when a PDR program was proposed that would have assessed a local millage to match a federal farmland protection program, a number of grassroots folks here tried to get it on the ballot," said Tom Nelson, Leelanau Conservancy's director of farm programs. "They did that, but the issue became more about increasing taxes than about a PDR program. Besides that, there was a 911 millage on the ballot, and many people, especially elderly people, told me they couldn't afford both millages, and 911 was more important."
Understanding that people will always resist new taxes, the Conservancy decided to do some off-the-road thinking.
"We talked to a number of farmers over their kitchen tables, and we got a lot of feedback about what they'd like to see," Nelson said. "People said the P.A. 116 program (that grants tax breaks in exchange for preserving farmland) was not a bad idea, but the penalties are hard to swallow."
And so, based on that P.A. 116 model, the Conservancy, in cooperation with Michigan State University's Extension and Ag Experiment Station; and the Leelanau Conservation District, launched a program that exceeded all expectations in its first six months.
"The goal in phase one was to preserve 5,000 acres, and we were halfway there in six months," Nelson said. "The credit goes to the farmers who were willing to talk about this despite them not liking the millage proposal in 2006. They trusted us to make a good-faith effort. We had the ability to raise money to pay the farmers, but what we couldn't do on our own was to gain the trust of all of the farming community. That seems to have happened now. Even farmers who were most opposed to the millage like this idea and signed up because there are no tax dollars involved. It's all privately funded."
The voluntary program, entitled FarmAbility, is very simple. Eligible farmers in the county agree to keep the land in agriculture for 10 years, and are paid $10 per acre annually for active ag land, or $5 per acre per year for woodlots, wetlands and other property. When the 10-year contract is up, the farmer can re-sign or remain out of the program. There is no penalty for not re-enrolling. Farmers are free to change the uses of the land or build barns or houses, as long as the new use is considered farming or farm-related. The contract carries over if the land is sold. The Conservancy retains the first option to buy the property if a farmer wants to sell during the 10-year contract period. It is not obligated to buy it through that "right of first refusal," but can if it has the funds to pay fair market value.
But there's more to the program than just land preservation. Property owners who enroll in the program can take advantage of a cost-sharing program for estate planning and "advanced educational opportunities" offered through the Conservancy.
Nelson said he hopes to get enough private money together to have additional 5,000-acre enrollment periods in 2011 and 2013.
But no matter how much Leelanau County land is ultimately preserved, Nelson said it's refreshing to see farmers pulling together for a single goal.
"I'm thrilled that we're all pulling in the same direction," he said. "For many farmers, this is a great business decision. They've sold their development value but kept the farm and continue to get value from the farm."
Pulling together, of course, is the way things get done. And as traffic moves both ways on M-22, tourists will someday appreciate what began in 2009 to preserve the unique character of the Leelanau Peninsula.
Perhaps they'll even remember another phrase coined by Yogi Berra as they feel their spirits lifted by the magnificence all around them.
"If you don't know where you're going," Berra said, "you might not get there."
For detailed information about FarmAbility, visit www.theconservancy.com
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