Forest and Farmland Conservancy

Introduction

The Franklin County Forest and Farmland Conservancy, Inc. was formed by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) in May of 1999. The Conservancy’s purpose is to begin to protect forestland and farmland within Franklin County as protective barriers against the encroachment of urban sprawl between Franklin County municipalities. Protection for these properties will be afforded through the purchase of development rights from landowners within Franklin County. One of the primary goals of the Conservancy is to establish a successful model for this focused use of selective development rights purchasing which can be replicated by other organizations across the country.

The Conservancy’s operation in Franklin County will represent the first-ever use of a program of development rights purchasing specifically for the purpose of controlling sprawl at the County level. By establishing a base of perpetually protected forest and farmland acreage in future growth corridors within the County, a model of sustainability will emerge which can then be exported to other County-wide organizations for implementation.

Stage One: Raising Funds for the Purchase of Development Rights

Although the Fund will be dedicated to ongoing fundraising for the purchase of development rights within the County, the first six months of the operation of the Conservancy will be dedicated almost entirely to assembling a sustainable base of initial monies which will be used to launch the first round of development rights purchasing.The fundraising program will consist of:

(1) Development and circulation of a Franklin County newsletter which will be used to raise funds from Franklin County citizens. Initial circulation for the maiden issue will be between 300-500 households. The newsletter will be circulated on a quarterly basis to a mailing list constantly updated by the Program Development director for the Fund.
(2) Focused funding applications to Foundations which fund land acquisition programs. During the initial six month period of development, grant proposals will be circulated to three or more selected Foundations, who will be solicited for grants ranging from $25,000 to $50,000. The innovative nature and replicability of the activities of the Conservancy will be emphasized to these funders as primary reasons for funding.
(3) Development within the Board of Directors will result in the focused fundraising from a select list of 30-50 individuals in the Franklin County area.
(4) Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) on local radio and television stations will be used to supplement fundraising efforts by drawing small funder amounts from the general public. Press releases will be utilized to advertise the formation and fundraising goals of the Conservancy.

Stage Two: Coordination with Wilson College to Plan for Purchasing (Proposed)

Stage Two of the implementation of the Conservancy will involve coordination between the Board of Directors for the Conservancy and the Environmental Studies Department at Wilson College. As part of a course offered by Wilson, students will be supervised by Board members and the staff attorney of the Legal Defense Fund, to prepare tax and zoning parcel maps for areas within growth corridors in between Franklin County municipalities. These tax and zoning parcel maps will identify landowners who own forest and farmland within these corridors, and will become part of a master database which will allow for more efficient purchasing when monies become available to the Conservancy for development rights purchasing.

Stage Three: Establishment of Purchasing Priorities by the Conservancy

Stage Three of the implementation of the Conservancy will occur concurrently with the first two stages and will involve the establishment of purchasing priorities by the Conservancy. The Board of Directors of the Conservancy will select geographic regions of the County in which purchasing of development rights will be focused. The Board will draft a listing of objective criteria to be used for the ranking of geographic areas in which purchasing of development rights will be focused. Staff of the Conservancy will then implement development rights purchasing within these selected geographic areas.

Stage Four: Purchasing Development Rights in Perpetuity

Once geographic areas are chosen by the Conservancy Board, and depending upon the availability of funds within the Conservancy, purchasing of development rights will be initiated according to the ranking established by the Conservancy. Perpetual deed restrictions will result from contractual agreements entered into between the Conservancy and a private landowner, and the development rights shall be perpetually held by the Conservancy, with conservation easements being applied to the land via deed restrictions. Checks in the amount of the purchase price shall be disbursed from the Conservancy bank account to the landowner upon closing of the transaction. Acreage prices established by the County development rights purchasing program shall be used by the Conservancy to determine compensation rates and may be adjusted in exceptional circumstances by the Board of Directors of the Conservancy.