The proposed 2007 federal budget may slash or eliminate funding for the federal Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program, an invaluable program that has protected hundreds of acres of open space here in Washtenaw County alone, not to mention nationwide.

This successful program is a major tool in the toolbox to help stem the loss of our best farmland to development.

You can help! Here's how: Please contact your legislators and urge them to increase funding for the Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program. Contact information and a sample letter is below.

Contact information for key legislators
Sen. Carl Levin
US Senate
124 West Allegan, Suite 1810
Lansing, MI 48933-1716

Sen. Debbie Stabenow
US Senate
221 W. Lake Lansing Road, Suite 100
East Lansing, MI 48823

If you live in eastern Washtenaw County (House 15th District):
Rep. John Dingell
US House of Representatives
5 South Washington Street
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

If you live in western Washtenaw County, Jackson County (House 7th District):
Rep. Joe Schwarz
US House of Representatives
142 N. Mechanic St.
Jackson, MI 49201

If you live in Ingham or Livingston Counties (House 8th District):
Rep. Mike Rogers
US House of Representatives
1327 E. Michigan Ave.
Lansing, MI 48912

Example letter
This letter was sent by Washtenaw Land Trust to our legislators on March 17, 2006.
Dear (Senator):
        As Executive Director of the Washtenaw Land Trust, I am writing to express my concern about pending cuts in the Federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program.
        Washtenaw County has benefited greatly from this program. The Land Trust has received three grants, directly protecting 182 acres of prime farmland in the community. In turn, this success has encouraged other farmers to seek perpetual farmland protection, through donated development rights, use of the state purchase of development rights program, and application to the Ann Arbor Greenbelt and other funded programs. The Land Trust alone has protected over 1000 acres of farmland, through various methods.
        Most encouragingly, the farmers who are benefiting from these programs are not taking a windfall profit, but rather reinvesting the money in expanding their farming operations, acquiring more land.
        Other funding recipients in Washtenaw County have included the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy and the Ann Arbor Greenbelt.
        In sum, these funds leverage local, state and private dollars, as well as landowner contributions, to stabilize the farming economy in our community.
        We are making progress. Farmers are now contacting us to discuss ways in which they can maintain the integrity of their farming operations, and even expand those businesses. Eliminating this vital tool will have two negative effects.
The first is psychological. Farmers will again lose hope that they can afford to maintain control over the lands that represent their single most important investment. The second is very tangible…we will be unable to leverage the local, state and private resources to seriously address these needs.
        It is trite in 2006 to couch every issue in terms of national security. However, the concentration of farmland in limited parts of the country, and our growing dependence on imported foods does make us a more vulnerable nation. Please help maintain the funding in this important program, in 2007 and beyond.
Yours truly,
Susan Lackey
Executive Director

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About the Washtenaw Land Trust: The Washtenaw Land Trust is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that works to protect farmland and natural areas throughout Washtenaw County and the surrounding region.

Washtenaw Land Trust
info@washtenawlandtrust.org
734-302-LAND(5263)