Growing Greener

This past May, PA voters were asked to pass the $625 M bond issue on the Growing Greener Initiative. This initiative, which was signed into action in July by Rendell, is dedicating $80 M to the Farmland Preservation Program. The program pays farmers a sum per acre in order to not sell their land to developers.

Growing up in Bucks County, PA, I was surrounded by farms up until I was in high school. Development started in the late 70s and by the mid-80s had exploded. By 1985, 80% of the farms in my area were gone and turned into massive developments or shopping centers.

My next door neighbor, Mr. Styers, owned and operated one of the more successful produce farms in the area. Styers Orchards had been in the Styers family for 3 generations. Mr. Styers, at the age of 102, went to court to contest the three existing deeds on his property. Two deeds were held by his son and grandson, both of whom wished to sell the property to developers. Mr. Styers won the case and sold the property to the state which has added it to the Penn State agricultural program.

The disappearance of farmland has been increasing since the late 70s to accomodate population growth. Each state has it's own approach to land preservation. PA still has a large amount of undeveloped rural land. Expansion is on the rise and PA's central and western sectors are poised for rapid development within the next decade.

While I understand that in order to accomodate our growing population, land must be developed. However, it has to be done both with smart growth and appreciation for our natural resources in mind. We cannot recreate these resources once they are gone.

I have spent half of my life in a rural area and the other half in some city or another. Both experiences have shown me how essential smart growth and land preservation are. What concerns me is that the majority of our populations live in the suburbs and from what I have encountered from that group is a complete disinterest/ignorance when it comes to thinking about the need for change and awareness for these issues.

I hope someday to own rural property. In the meantime, the least I can do is to vote to help save them.