Seventy-four acres of prime farmland in Freedom Township are to be permanently preserved, thanks to a purchase of development rights arrangement between the landowner, the federal government, and the Washtenaw Land Trust.

Carolyn Strieter, 71, has a hard time talking about the deal without getting emotional. She's lived on the South Parker Road farmstead since she and her late husband, Arwin, laid down stakes in 1959.

"I think it's a wonderful thing," Strieter says. "To save this land - I can't tell you how it makes me feel. It's difficult for me to put into words. It seems all you see these days is big new houses being built around here. All the good farming that's gone on for generations is being threatened." Final terms of the deal are to be worked out when an appraisal is complete, but the development rights are likely to be worth $250,000. Funds from the federal government's Farmland Protection Program will account for 50 percent of the deal.

The arrangement will allow Strieter to remain on her farm, which was one of six Michigan farms to qualify for the competitive federal grant program. "The money from this is the last of my thoughts," she says. "What's most important to me is saving this land from development."