Ag program helping stave off urban sprawl

By RON TSCHIDA Chronicle Staff Writer

When the federal government throws billions of dollars at a problem, the solution often has unintended consequences.

A case in point: the Conservation Reserve Program, designed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect highly erodable and other ecologically sensitive land.

Since its inception in 1985, the popular program has idled nearly 35 million acres, paying landowners under 10-year contracts to leave ground untilled. Montana ranks second in the nation, with 3.4 million acres enrolled in CRP.

Taking all that land out of production, however, drove some ag-related businesses into the ground and dried up economies in small towns. That's because fewer acres in production means farmers need less fertilizer and fuel and less farm equipment, so some suppliers went out of business.

But a more positive side effect may be what the program has done to slow urban sprawl, the conversion of farmland into residential subdivisions.

That's according to a recent study completed by researchers at Montana State University.

"The surprise was how big a role CRP played on the land out there," said Jerry Johnson, associate professor of political science. "Because it's in effect a zoning ordinance, a 10-year zoning ordinance."

He and Bruce Maxwell, associate professor in land resources and environmental science, looked at land-use changes in the Three Forks area between 1964 and 1998. They used that data to forecast future use change.

From 2000 to 2025, the researchers' computer model estimates conversion of ag land to residential subdivisions would increase 23 percent with CRP in the mix.

Take CRP out of the equation and the increase jumps to an estimated 40 percent.

"The strategy preserves open space and prevents piecemeal residential development," wrote Johnson and Maxwell in a paper published in "The Journal of Rural Studies." "Agricultural land in CRP can benefit the ecology, economy, and aesthetics of the community."

CRP, by giving farmers a measure of financial stability, helps them make a decision to keep the land.

The program pays landowners annually for each acre they set aside. They sign 10-year contracts so they have a guaranteed income for that time. In Gallatin County, rates are about $33 to $40 an acre.

Mark Haggerty, who works on stewardship issues with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said he isn't surprised by the study's findings.

"The viability of agriculture has a lot to do with the decision to sell or not to sell," Haggerty said. "That's something that we believe is a powerful choice."

Bob Broyles, executive director of the Gallatin County office of the federal Farm Service Agency, said he thinks the model is accurate for the limited area it studied.

"If you're looking at Gallatin County as a whole, (CRP) is probably not that big a factor," Broyles said.

For one thing, the federal rate is lower than rental rates on some of the more fertile land in the heart of the valley.

Also, farmers who "bid" to have their land accepted into CRP compete not with their neighbors, but nationally. The acreage is ranked on its vulnerability to ecological damage.

In much of Gallatin County, wind erosion and soil loss is not that big a problem, Broyles said.

"As these contracts are expiring, they're just not ranking high enough (to be renewed)," he said. "So we're just slowly losing all the CRP land (locally)."

As of December, the county was down to about 1,800 enrolled acres, from a peak of more than 10,000 acres in 1997.

The disparity in value between agriculture use and subdivision is often too great for CRP to dissuade development, said Glenn Patrick, a Montana conservation specialist with USDA based in Bozeman.

"That land (around Three Forks) for farm purposes is worth maximum $400 an acre," Patrick said, but to a developer it's worth thousands of dollars an acre.

He points to former CRP land off U.S. Highway 287 near Three Forks that now holds a new residential subdivision.

But Patrick said CRP is undoubtedly helping in some cases.

"I do agree with that," Patrick said. "When you look at an older farmer or rancher, he's been on the land a long time, he has a tendency to want to keep that land, keep from subdividing."

Johnson said the Three Forks study can't simply be extrapolated to every area in the country.

"The fact is much of CRP land is not in prime development areas," Johnson acknowledges.

On the other hand, recent farm legislation has added money for floodplain protection, for wetlands protection and for a grassland version of CRP's cropland protection.

Each of those programs has the potential to ease urban sprawl, Johnson notes.

The important point, he said, is that these programs have unintended and potentially far-reaching consequences for land protection.

And even land farther from urban areas, such as land now in CRP northwest of Three Forks, may face development pressure.

"Are you going to see the land between Toston and Three Forks developed?" Johnson asks. "I don't know. But right now it's nice open space."

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