Municipalities keen to preserve farmland can opt into Bucks County’s state resources and receive a share of funding to purchase farmland conservation easements. The change allows the Bucks County Agricultural Land Preservation program to expand and grow faster than at any time since it began in 1989.
During the Bucks County Commissioners regular meeting January 22 commissioners unanimously voted to continue supporting the program by approving a $2 million annual allocation for matching state funding.
The new program initiative offers municipalities a way to opt in and receive a share of state funding for farmland conservation in their borders. It also makes processing eligible applicants more flexible than at any previous time in the program’s 35-year history.
The new initiative allows eligible applicants a chance to receive funding – regardless of their spot – on the waitlist. It also provides a way for local municipalities to receive state funding for land preservation.
The new initiative brings together the county and local municipalities to secure conservation easements “within their borders.”
A portion of the state preservation funding received by the county will be passed on to municipalities as an incentive to be part of the new initiative, said John S. Ives, director of agricultural land preservation and open space programs for Bucks County.
“With those additional funds municipalities will be able to conserve more farmland in their communities,” Ives explained.
Bedminster Township is the first municipality to sign up to participate in the program this year.
Ives said the current ranked list includes about 42 farms and amounts to roughly 1,300 acres. Because of previous “top down” ranking restrictions some applicants have been on the wait list since the early 2000s, Ives said.
“With this new initiative we’ll be able to go lower down on the list to preserve farms,” he said.
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The current program meant about 300 acres or roughly five farms per year could be preserved. The new initiative aims to increase those numbers, according to Ives.
The goal “is to preserve more land in the county,” he said.
Founded in 1989, Bucks County’s Agricultural Preservation Program has preserved 247 farms on 18,948 acres with a total program funding (as of 2024) of $190.762 million, according to Bucks County.gov.
“The farms preserved in the county are still privately owned. We work with farm owners; property owners to preserve the farms through an agricultural conservation easement. They are not owned by the county,” Ives said.
He noted land preservation is voluntary for property owners.
The change provides greater flexibility and it’s expected to increase the amount of preserved farmland acreage.
