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VAD ordinance encourages investment in agriculture, it does not represent a <br />permanent land protection measure as districts rely heavily on voluntary <br />enrollment and allow for withdrawal . 22 <br />3. Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements (PACE) Program. The North <br />Carolina Farmland Preservation Enabling Act enables counties to purchase <br />agricultural conservation easements on qualifying farmland with the voluntary <br />consent of the landowner. Under such a program the county could pay farmers <br />willing to accept a permanent (or temporary) easement limiting subdivision of <br />their land for residential development the difference between the value of their <br />land for development and the value for its use as farming. Farmers would be free <br />to use this payment for any purposes they choose: retirement investment, capital <br />improvement, etc. Payment options could include lump -sum payment or annual <br />payments over a set period. In other areas around the country this type of <br />program has been funded through municipal and county bond issues, a percentage <br />of real estate transfer tax or mortgage tax revenues, or as a regular budget line <br />item. Easements under the program can be drafted to offer farmers maximum <br />flexibility to continue to profitably work their land, and change their operation as <br />their needs dictate, as long as they meet the requirements of state law regarding <br />the purpose of agricultural conservation easements. By North Carolina statute, <br />"such easements may permit the creation of not more than three lots that meet <br />applicable county zoning and subdivision regulations, and shall be perpetual in <br />duration, provided that, at least 20 years after the purchase of an easement, the <br />county may agree to reconvey the easement to the owner of the land for <br />consideration, if the landowner can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the county <br />that commercial agriculture is no longer practicable on the land in question. ,23 <br />4. State Conservation Funding Tools <br />a. Farmland Preservation Trust Fund The North Carolina FPTF is created <br />by statute "for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements" in <br />transactions with both governmental and private non - profit <br />organizations . 24 These monies, when available, can be matched with <br />certain federal funds described below. The FPTF is administered by the <br />Department of Agriculture or its designee_ <br />b. Clean Water Management Trust Fund The North Carolina CWMTF is a <br />voluntary, incentive -based water quality program to help local <br />governments, state agencies and conservation non - profit groups finance <br />projects to protect and restore surface water quality. Farm and forest land <br />owners are eligible to receive trust fund monies for sale of the <br />development rights to their land under certain guidelines and <br />qualifications. These funds can be combined with certain federal <br />conservation funds listed below. 25 <br />c. Division of Soil and Water Conservation Agricultural Cost - Share This <br />program is administered by the Division of Soil and Water Conservation <br />in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It is delivered <br />at the local level by 492 elected and appointed volunteer District <br />Supervisors who are assisted by a cadre of experts. Participating farmers <br />receive 75% of predetermined average costs of installed best management <br />I <br />G -1 <br />Attachment number 1 <br />Page 206 <br />