The three-part Midwest Easement Webinar Series explores the regional agricultural landscape and tools to preserve and protect essential farmland. The series covers how to develop a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program, intersections of zoning and farmland easement programs, and the long-term financial and environmental outcomes of agricultural conservation easements.

Webinars:

Developing Purchase of Development Rights Programs Webinar: Barry Lonik of Treemore Ecology and Land Services and Janice Hill of Kane County, IL, provide essential insights on planning, funding, implementing, and garnering constituent support for municipal conservation easement programs.

Planning for Agriculture and Easements Webinar: Julia Freedgood, Senior Program Advisor at American Farmland Trust, provides an overview of how communities can utilize planning to safeguard agriculture as an essential land use, and Shannon O’Neil, Agricultural Preservation Program Manager at Frederick County, Maryland, outlines how strong agricultural zoning can complement farmland protection programs.

Farm Viability Programs Webinar: AFT’s Midwest Region provides an overview of programs and research at the intersection of agricultural conservation easements, farm viability, and the implementation of conservation practices. Dave Clapp, Resource Conservation Program Manager with the New Jersey State Agriculture Development Committee, shares the impacts and implementation of Soil and Water Conservation and Wildlife Fencing grant programs.