THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240207
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
I appreciate the attention Beth Barber's column ``ARP's uncrossed t's'' (Beacon, Feb. 5) brought to the proposed Agricultural Reserve Program and her invitation for comment. As a member of the ad hoc Southern Watersheds Committee, which authored the ARP, The Nature Conservancy believes this program deserves the support of all Virginia Beach citizens.
With just a small investment in the ARP now, we can protect family farms, natural resources and scenic open space. We can ensure that our children and grandchildren will inherit a Virginia Beach rich in rural character and natural heritage.
The key to this is preserving family farms. Our remaining farmers face a dilemma. They can make far more by selling their land for development than they can by raising crops. And if farmland is reduced below a critical mass, agricultural support businesses cannot be sustained, making it harder on those farmers who remain. In fact, this trend is already evident.
The loss of such valuable farmland threatens the health of important natural areas. Farms buffer sensitive wetlands along the North Landing River and Back Bay. These pristine swamps and marshes are one of Virginia Beach's best-kept secrets. More rare species live there than anywhere in Virginia east of the Blue Ridge. Amazingly, at least 32 rare plants grow along the North Landing, and it is a favorite spot for migrating waterfowl. This area is so important ecologically that The Nature Conservancy has acquired nearly 6,000 acres here to protect rare species.
Unwise development in southern Virginia Beach could mar scenic open space, imperil the health of wetlands that filter drinking water and compromise the city's growing nature-tourism industry. Without the open space that family farms provide, the rural heritage of southern Virginia Beach, which benefits residents of north and south, will be lost.
The ARP can prevent this misfortune. It is a cost-effective, market-based solution that lets the farmer keep ownership of his land while gaining working capital to continue farming. As study after study across our country has already shown, while suburban development costs taxpayers money, rural farmland pays for itself.
Having spent my childhood in nearby Portsmouth, I remember well what old Princess Anne County was like before its dramatic growth in the 1970s and '80s. It troubles me to think that by the time today's children are my age, the rural heritage and natural beauty of southern Virginia Beach may be just a memory to them as well. The ARP is a smart, businesslike way to make sure that doesn't happen.
Michael L. Lipford
Director, Virginia Chapter
The Nature Conservancy by CNB