Washington State Conservation Commission

Providing service and support to Washington's conservation districts

Office of Farmland Preservation has a dedicated website

The Office of Farmland Preservation mission is to promote the vitality of farming, farmers, and ranchers by ensuring the continued existence of productive agricultural lands in Washington State. Learn more at the OFP website.

Office of Farmland Preservation Inaugural Newsletter

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Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Eastern Washington farm at sunset

The Office of Farmland Preservation is pleased to present it's inaugural newsletter,the Office of Farmland Preservation (OFP), a program within the Washington State ConservationCommission, was created as part of Governor Gregoire’s Working Lands Initiative.

The OFP was assigned a number of tasks, including evaluating conservation easements as a tool for preserving farmland, developing model programs for innovative economicincentives for landowners, provide technical assistance to local governments to encourage retention of agricultural lands, and develop a farm transition program to ensure viable agricultural lands are available for future generations.

Assisting the OFP is the Farmland Preservation Task Force. Created as part of the OFP, the Governor appointed Task Force consists of 18 members from around the state who have been meeting regularly since December of 2007 to explore issues relating to the decline in agricultural lands and make recommendations for the retention of these lands and for the economic viability of working lands.

Farmers are among the top land stewards and conservationists in this state. These individuals know more than any other group or agency what their land needs and what it can achieve.OFP seeks to be a support system for them and provide technical assistance in achieving their goals.

OFP Newsletter - August 2008OFP Newsletter - August 2008 1.21 Mb