Editorial
Jan 24,2006
Bedford Bulletin

Bedford-type sprawl threatens food supply
By Barbara McEwan, Forest

It is not surprising that the Bedford public has heard all about the need for development here from the developers themselves. Of course, they'll increase their incomes because of it. If they are deprived of the opportunity, they may lose their current businesses/jobs, but this happens on a regular basis in every field.

Bedford County supervisors also seem to favor more development based on their recent actions. Apparently they don't know that according to the recently conducted Cost of Community Service Study (COCS) done by the American Farmland Trust for Bedford County each residence typically costs $1.07 of every dollar collected while small businesses and open areas cost only 25 cents. So the supervisors favor more residences and less open land? Now you know why your taxes continue to go up.
 

Between 1997 and 2002 our county lost more than 10 percent of its farmland and almost 10 percent of its woodlands. Where did it go? In the past 15 years our population grew from 43,000 residents to 63,000 residents. With current trends we can expect 100,000 residents by 2030. The fact that residential growth does not pay for itself ought to alarm every taxpayer in Bedford County.

Serious preservation of open land must begin now because according to the Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, that trend is growing. He says "You can't subdivide land one or twice and then expect to be able to use your land to cultivate or harvest. If this loss of farm and forestland continues unabated, we will lose the land base which is so critical to us."

While aesthetics, important as they are, should be considered, absolutely essential is our own food supply without which humans cannot survive. Once farmland has been covered by buildings and roads it cannot be recovered.

The state Farmland Preservation Task Force recommends Virginia be able to provide assistance to all local governments seeking to preserve farmland by 2007. By the same year, they recommend that the commonwealth provide at least $1 million to every locality with a PDR (Purchase of Development Rights) program. A PDR program pays farmers to keep their land available for agriculture. It provides a way for a farmer to cash in on the developed value of his land without having to sell it to a developer.

By 2010 the task force wants at least 30 localities to have a PDR program and that at least 70 localities have an active program by 2020. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Farm Bureau have provided a model for localities doing so.

Six Virginia localities already are paying for PDR programs from their own tax dollars and many more are interested. Ours should be next. Bedford County currently has only 3,200 acres of private land protected with conservation easements. Meanwhile you can log onto www.bedfordpreservation.org and get information you need to better understand what PDRs are all about. [Click on FAQ - frequently asked questions] If you have land that you would like to put in a conservation easement, contact the Bedford Citizens for Land Preservation, P.O. Box 86, Bedford 24523, (540) 586-5610, as well as Western Virginia Land Trust, 722 First St. S.W. Suite L, Roanoke, VA 24016, (540) 985-0000.

So, do you want to continue eating the variety and amounts of food that you currently do? Since the Bedford type sprawl is going on in every agricultural state, it will mean that an increasing amount of our food supply will be imported - provided other countries will forget the needs of their own populations and are willing to provide the most important people on earth with food: Americans who constitute less than 5 percent of the world's population.

You can help solve the problem by letting your representative know what you think Bedford County should do. If you don't already know who your county supervisor is, call the Bedford County's Registrar's office at (540) 586-7649 for the name and address. The office will also provide the name of your Delegate. The address for both of the following is Capitol Office, General Assembly, P.O. Box 406, Richmond, VA 23218: Del. Lacey Putney or Del. Kathy Byron depending on where you live. Senator Steve Newman's address: P.O. Box 396, Richmond, VA 23218. Gov. Tim Kaine: State Capitol, Third Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

We may not be able to put up a sign saying: NO MORE PEOPLE, but we can tell them where they can and cannot live.

Barbara McEwan

Forest