Last month we introduced you to the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust (BALT).Frog Hollow Farm is located in the Brentwood farming region, surrounded by 12,000 acres of rich Delta soils with a perfect climate for orchards and row crops.
However, as the City of Brentwood has grown, the region has experienced intense development pressure. Contra Costa County has lost a quarter of its prime farmland in the past twenty years. Concerned by the rapid loss of Brentwood’s extraordinary farmland, Farmer Al and a group of forward thinking farmers and environmentalists began advocating for farmland protection policies in the 1990’s. BALT was formed in 2002 to work with farmers and the community to permanently protect farmland and support a vibrant agricultural economy. Since then, BALT has permanently protected almost 1,000 acres of orchards and row crops.
BALT protects farmland with a legal agreement called a conservation easement. Conservation easements are used around the nation to conserve open space, wildlife habitat and farmland. An agricultural conservation easement is an agreement between the farmer and the land trust that the farm will never be subdivided or developed in the future. When a farmer enters into a conservation easement, the farmer continues to own and farm their land. However, the farmer agrees that land will remain as farmland forever. Because the restriction is recorded on the property’s title, the restriction remains on the farm when the farm is sold, leased or passed down to heirs.
BALT purchase conservation easements from farmers with money from federal, state and local governments and with private donations from people like you. The conservation easements compensate farmers for the many benefits that their farms provide our community, give farmers capital to invest in their farms and offer an economic alternative to selling farmland for development. BALT is currently working with farmers to permanently protect another 1,000 acres of farmland.
For more information about BALT and for updates on Brentwood farming, pleasevisit www.brentwoodaglandtrust.org or follow BALT on Facebook.
