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Forward Twp. Farm Added to State's Preservation Program
By Submitted Report
The Tube City Almanac
February 13, 2015
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A Forward Twp. farm is one of 18 that have been added to Pennsylvania's farmland preservation program, state officials announced Thursday.
John Opatkiewicz Farm No. 1 is a 117-acre crop and livestock operation located on Pangburn Hollow Road near William Penn school.
The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program identifies properties and slows the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses. It enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, also called development rights, from owners of quality farmland.
Besides the Forward Twp. agreement, Pennsylvania's Agricultural Land Preservation Board safeguarded nearly 1,400 additional acres.
Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have invested nearly $1.3 billion to preserve 504,252 acres on 4,750 farms in 57 counties for future agricultural production.
"The program's success comes through the work of staff at all levels of government, support from a public who values farmland, and from the farmers themselves who offer their land for preservation," said Russell Redding, acting state Secretary of Agriculture. "I look forward to the program's future success."
The board approved a $30 million state funding threshold for 2015 easement purchases. Counties across Pennsylvania have certified $14.7 million for farmland preservation in 2015.
The other farms added to the program were in the central and eastern Pennsylvania counties of Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Susquehanna, Union and York.
Originally published February 13, 2015.
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