“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt said it best: to cherish the natural resources we need, to cherish our land to the best we can. We never know what may happen to the land and natural resources when we are gone, but there is a way to ensure that it stays how we want it to.
One of the programs that can achieve our preservation objectives is the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP). This program provides funding for landowners to place an agricultural easement on their properties.
Started in 2013, this program is run by the Ohio Department of Agriculture Office of Farmland Preservation. Landowners apply to this program through local sponsors such as counties, townships, Soil & Water Conservation Districts and land trusts.
Most individuals do not understand what an easement may be. An easement is a voluntary legal agreement on one’s farm to use the land primarily for agricultural purposes. With easements, the land in production cannot be developed and this helps encourage conservation farming practices. Through LAEPP, the land can still be sold, and the easement will be transferred to the new landowner, but the same practices will still be in effect.
There is also a difference between a conservation easement and an agricultural easement. Many may get confused and think they are the same program.
In Ohio, a conservation easement is an agreement to keep the property’s preservation values and forfeit the rights to develop the land for other purposes. An agricultural agreement protects the development so that future generations can still farm the property.
Since 2020, Harrison Soil & Water Conservation District has had the unique opportunity to be a local sponsor and help landowners who want to put their properties into an easement. In 2024, our first landowner was successfully placed into the LAEPP program. Through his dedication, 121 acres will never be able to be developed and will help keep the agricultural integrity of Harrison County.
If you are interested in this program, please reach out to your local sponsor to help preserve Ohio’s Farmland.
