|
| |
Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program Proposal Checklist - 2007
Contact: Kip Kolesinskas
(860) 871-4047
kip.kolesinskas@ct.usda.gov
The deadline for applications was April 27, 2007.
Application Form:
There is no application form for the FRPP. Applicants should assemble an
application package (3-ring binder) that includes the following information --
- The CT-NRCS State Conservationist will announce FRPP awards the week of
June 15, 2007. Successful entities will be required to review, sign, and
return cooperative agreements by July 1, 2007. Deadline for closing on
easements and requesting NRCS funds to pay landowner is December 31, 2008.
Information About the Applicant:
- The applicant must be a unit of state government, local government,
Indian Tribe, or non-profit organization. The application should clearly
state which category the applicant qualifies for. Non-profit organizations
must submit documentation that they are recognized as such by the Internal
Revenue Service and that farmland protection is part of their mission.
Contact NRCS for more details.
- Describe your agency, Tribe, or organization’s history of acquiring and
managing easements on farmland or open space. What criteria are used to set
acquisition priorities? Describe your capability to acquire, manage, and
enforce easements. Provide an example of the proposed easement deed to be
used to prevent agricultural land conversion. Describe the number and
ability of staff that will be dedicated to monitoring easement stewardship.
Describe the availability and source of funds currently available for
easement purchase. List the partners involved and their contributions to the
acquisition of this easement.
- Describe your agency, Tribe, or organization’s interest in and ability
to work with the landowner/farmer to assure the conservation plan developed
by the landowner and NRCS is being implemented. Does the landowner/farmer
already have a current NRCS conservation plan?
- Backlog of farms to be protected: How many farms do you have on your
waiting list to be protected? How many acres does this backlog represent?
Information Needed About the Farm(s) For Which You Seek Funding:
- List the name, address and phone numbers of the landowners and farmer
operating the farm if different from the landowner, the address and location
of the farms offered, and the size of the farms (in acres). Indicate the
priority of the farms offered based on your organization’s ranking.
- List the Tract and Farm Number assigned to the farm by the USDA Service
Center. If none exists, have the landowner contact the USDA Service Center
to fill out and sign form AD-1026 to have a Tract and Farm number assigned.
This information is needed to determine eligibility and develop the
conservation plan required of all participants in the FRPP. A list of
Service Center offices and phone numbers is listed at the end of this
checklist for your use.
- Include a copy of your pending offer with the landowner. (A pending
offer is a “written bid, contract, commitment, or option extended to a
landowner by a State, Tribe, local governmental entity, or eligible
non-governmental organization….”) If you do not have a pending offer with
the landowner, this farm is ineligible for USDA funding at this time. If
yes, describe what stage you are with the negotiations. Do you have an
appraisal (that meets Yellow Book federal standards) for the property? Have
you reached the “Purchase and Sale Contract” stage? What is the anticipated
acquisition cost?
- What proportion of the acquisition cost are you providing (i.e. are
there other partners providing funding)? Is the landowner donating part of
the value? The maximum funding that USDA can supply is 50% of the appraised
value of the development rights. If a landowner donation is included in the
entity's match, the entity must demonstrate the availability of 25% of the
appraised fair market value, or 50% of the purchase price. Up to 25% of the
entity’s matching offer can be landowner donation value of appraised value
(bargain sale). For example, if your organization/agency is proposing a
$400,000 farmland acquisition, the most USDA could contribute (if partnered
with you) would be $200,000. If the landowner contributed $50,000 of donated
value, your organization would need to contribute $150,000.
- Historic and/or archaeological resources - Is the farm listed on the
State or National Register of Historic Places? Or, has the farm been
formally determined to be eligible for listing on the State or National
Register of Historic Places? Have significant archaeological resources been
found on the property? If the answer is yes to any of these questions,
please include documentation and provide a brief description of the sites’
significance. Provide the date the resource was formally listed. Also,
include a copy of the historic protection covenants that you propose to file
with the deed. (Wikipedia's
List of National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut).
- Soils on the farm - Provide a copy of a soil map with an outline of all
the land on which development rights are to be purchased (maps may be
obtained from the Web Soil Survey at http://soils.usda.gov). Summarize the acreage of prime and also
statewide important and local important farmland soils. Also, summarize the
acreage of hydric soils covered by trees, acreage of hydric soils not
covered with trees, and acreage of non-hydric soils covered by trees. (If
needed, NRCS can assist you with this. Please see the list of offices on the
last page.)
- Farmed area/crops grown - Outline on a map those areas of the farm
actively being farmed and list the acreage of these areas. For this purpose,
“actively farmed” means regularly tilled or regularly harvested areas. For
grazed land, it must be quality forage to be considered actively farmed. For
example, fenced in forestland that has cattle wandering through it is not,
for this program, considered actively farmed land. Provide a list of crops
recently grown, the approximate acreage of each, and how the products are
marketed. The USDA Service Centers can help you with this if needed.
- Proximity to protected lands and compatible uses – On a map, show the
location of abutting, or nearby (within 1-2 miles), farmland, open space, or
other protected land that has already been protected from development. Also,
list the acreage of these potential areas.
- Level of on farm investments – Describe the existing on farm
infrastructure essential to the agricultural operation (barns, farm stand,
irrigation system, conservation practices, implementation of conservation
plan, stewardship, etc.). Also, separately describe the total acreage of
permanent, non-seasonal impervious surface on the farm (buildings, parking,
roads, etc.)
- Special scenic, social, or environmental qualities of the farm – Does
the parcel contain, border, or directly influence environmentally sensitive
areas or have important ecological functions and values?
- Describe any special scenic vistas (scenic road designation maps) the
public will enjoy if the farm is preserved. Include photos, if
appropriate.
- Describe any unique social significance the farm has for the
community, such as being a landmark in the community, public water supply
watershed or ground water recharge zone, has special value to underserved
people, etc.
- Describe any unique environmental or ecological attributes of the land
that would be protected, such as threatened and endangered species or a
recognized greenway or corridor.
- Threat of conversion to non-farm use - Describe the level of threat the
farm is under for conversion to non-farm use. As appropriate, include
information about recent nearby urbanization, census data, availability of
utilities such as town water and/or sewer lines, nearby magnets for
development such as major highways, etc. If applicable, describe any factors
that may be pushing the landowner(s) to sell the land soon. Examples
include: need to settle an estate, poor health, desire to retire, etc. Also,
please describe the desire of the landowners to subdivide each parcel, as
well as the landowner’s desire to construct additional residences on the
parcel offered.
- The farm should have in place a conservation plan developed
cooperatively by the farm owner, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation
Service, and the appropriate local Conservation District. Connecticut’s Soil
and Water Conservation Districts and NRCS have been working with farmers for
decades in developing and implementing conservation plans. Thus, many farms
already have these plans in place. Some do not. Check with the farmer and
NRCS to see if an updated plan is in place and being applied. If no
conservation plan is in place, to assure the long term sustainability of the
land, contact the farmer and NRCS about having one developed. If FRPP funds
are used to assist in acquiring the development rights, then the farm MUST
have and be implementing a conservation plan. A statement to this effect
must be included in the deed.
Also, the landowner and farmer need to be aware that if FRPP funds are used
to help protect the farm, the farm will then be subject to the conservation
compliance provisions of the farm bill. The applicant should discuss this
requirement with the landowner/farmer to determine if an NRCS conservation plan
already exists. If a conservation plan does not exist, the applicant should help
the landowner/farmer contact the appropriate USDA Service Center to develop a
conservation plan. Many farmers who deal with other USDA programs are already
familiar with this requirement. Under the conservation compliance provision, the
farmer must be in compliance with the wetland conservation and highly erodible
land provisions of the Farm Bill when the FRPP payment is made. In the future,
if the farmer takes action that causes the land to become out of compliance the
farmer then becomes ineligible for USDA loans, conservation program payments,
etc. until the problem is remedied. If the farm has not already had a
determination made by NRCS regarding the presence of wetlands or highly erodible
soils on the farm, this will need to be done. Contact Kip Kolesinskas, NRCS,
Tolland, Connecticut, for more information on this.
The information requested above will allow your application package to be
evaluated for basic eligibility and then to be scored.
NOTE: If you are negotiating
with a landowner, and intend to apply for USDA FRPP funds, be certain the owner
is aware of the requirements of the FRPP program. Also, NRCS will need to review
the proposed deed/covenant language and require the insertion of required
terminology, including listing the United States as a grantee/partner,
indemnification clause, environmental warranty, impervious surface limitation
clause, and conservation plan requirement into the deed documents. Also, NRCS
will need to review and approve of the appraisal, land survey, and title for the
property in advance of closing.
If you have questions about any of these items, contact Kip Kolesinskas at
(860) 871-4047, or via email at
kip.kolesinskas@ct.usda.gov).
USDA Offices:
- Serving Fairfield and Litchfield Counties
USDA Torrington Service Center
1185 New Litchfield Street, Torrington, CT 06790
Phone (860) 626-8852, or (860) 626-8258
- Serving New Haven and Middlesex Counties
USDA Wallingford Service Center
North Farms Executive Park, 900 Northrop Road, Suite A, Wallingford, CT 06492
Phone (203) 269-6665, or (203) 269-7509
- Serving Windham County
USDA Brooklyn Service Center
139 Wolf Den Road, Brooklyn, CT 06234-0327
Phone (860) 774-0224
- Serving Hartford and Tolland Counties
USDA Windsor Service Center
100 Northfield Dr., 4th Floor, Windsor, CT 06095
Phone (860) 688-7725
- Serving New London County
USDA Norwich Service Center
Yantic River Plaza, 238 West Town Street, Norwich, CT 06360
Phone (860) 887-3604
< Back to Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program
| |
|
About Us
Back to Top