Preserving farmland has aesthetic, economic benefits

FERTILE GROUND: George D. Mason, chairman of the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, says a state bond is necessary to secure
federal matching funds. /
FERTILE GROUND: George D. Mason, chairman of the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, says a state bond is necessary to secure federal matching funds. /

When future generations of Little Compton residents look around and appreciate the tiny seaside community’s rolling fields of undeveloped land, they will have George Mason and the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust to thank. Working on its own and with partners, the public trust has now conserved more than 1,650 acres of land – about 11 percent of Little Compton. Mason, the trust’s chairman, talked with Providence Business News recently about the trust’s work and a key land question on next month’s ballot.

PBN: The Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust was recently awarded the National Excellence Award by the Land Trust Alliance. What is that?
MASON: It’s basically given to a land trust that goes above and beyond the call of the duty in creative partnering with other organizations, creative programs and projects, and that the things that are done are sort of exemplary of what a model land trust should do. They looked at what the land trust has done since its founding in 1986, and they were pleased with the fact that a group of all volunteers, with no paid staff, accomplished what we’ve accomplished, which was increasing our holdings by 25 percent – while only 327 acres, it was a 25-percent increase.

PBN: What has allowed the Little Compton Trust to be so successful?
MASON: Earlier I mentioned partnerships, because partnerships are key. But the other thing is to have a funding source. When the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust was founded, we were granted by statute and by the financial town meeting of Little Compton the right to collect a 2-percent transfer fee on all land or real estate that transfers in the town that has a value greater than $75,000. That was the beginning. Since then, about four and a half years ago – because of the high rise in land prices especially – the voters didn’t want to see us slow down the pace of preservation. They wanted to assist us. So they allowed us to increase the fee from 2 percent to 4 percent. So that fee that we collect on the transfer of the land is sort of the seed money or the base money that allows us to do these partnerships.

PBN: What are the biggest challenges you face in trying to preserve land?
MASON: I think the biggest challenge is funding. … And whether it’s Little Compton or Rhode Island in general, one of the statistics that amazed me from the [R.I. Department of Environmental Management] Agriculture Division is that Rhode Island has the highest per-acre farmland cost in the entire United States. So again, looking just at farmland, that’s a challenge – getting the money to do this work is a great challenge. But that’s why partnering, leveraging and exploring every opportunity, every option possible is so important.

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PBN: The Nov. 4 ballot will include a proposed $2.5 million land preservation bond, which is smaller than a lot of advocates had hoped for. What is the money for?
MASON: I agree that it’s smaller than is needed. But it’s also reflective of the fact that in tough economic times, any amount of money we can get to do this work is much appreciated and well-needed.
The $2.5 million is necessary because for many land trusts, it’s the seed money that allows them to start doing projects. … This money is also important because the State of Rhode Island, under the current farm bill which was just passed by Congress … has a $3.7 million federal match that the state … can make use of. So that $2.5 million could be seed money to preserve some of the larger farms. … You have a direct dollar-for-dollar match. … When it’s preserved as farmland, there’s also a direct economic benefit to the state, because … farming actually employs people. … And there’s more of a push toward, with Farm Fresh Rhode Island products and Rhody Fresh milk and all of that, those things wouldn’t be possible unless you had the land to feed the cows, to raise the cattle, to grow the potatoes, to have the tomatoes [and] to grow the nursery stock.

PBN: What do you say to people who have concerns about putting so much land in preservation?
MASON: There have been numerous studies done that show that preserved land consumes less in town services and costs less per acre to maintain than developed land. Developed land in communities that have very few services – land that has a house on it and the standard 2.5 children or whatever – costs $1.09 per $1 of taxes, up to like $1.30 or $1.40, or 1.4 times the taxes collected are expended. … As one of my trust members will say, cows don’t go to school.
Another thing people will say is, you’re buying this land and I or my kids or my grandchildren can’t afford to live here. The reality is there’s two pieces here. One is a statewide dilemma we all face, which is a lack of affordable housing. We’re sensitive to that – we’re working with the town’s affordable housing trust to help develop a 9-acre parcel of land. This project is early onset, but it represents between 12 and 14 affordable housing units that would be built in Little Compton – we currently only have two that qualify. So from two to 13 is an example of it.
The reality is, Rhode Island has been discovered by the rest of the universe, people who have incomes far beyond the average Rhode Islander’s income. … But if we find a landowner who’s willing to sell that type of property – at a discount, because it’s being preserved … that’s a far better alternative than having a community with a lot of these McMansion-type houses. •
INTERVIEW
George D. Mason
POSITION: Chairman, Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust
BACKGROUND: Worked as deputy administrator, Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court (2005-present); director of policy and legislation for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch (2002-2005); senior adviser to Gov. Lincoln C. Almond (1999-2002); atvarious private-sector energy firms.
EDUCATION: B.A. in history and Russian language, Providence College, 1984; MBA, Boston University, 1988.
FIRST JOB: Mason became an assistant in his father’s printing shop at age 6.
RESIDENCE: Little Compton
AGE: 46

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