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For Immediate Release: April 11, 2002
Contact: Karen Rauter (607) 865-7790 or Dave Dolan (607)
865-4932
Hobart, NY -- Jim and Nore Lamport recently sold the development
rights on their Delaware County dairy farm in Hobart to
the Watershed Agricultural Council's Easement Program to
permanently protect the farm from future development. Fairvale
Farm on Township Road in Hobart is a 170-year-old dairy
where the Lamports have milked 50 cows since 1980. One of
the family's four children, who is college-bound, currently
works the farm with his parents. "Of course, I was happy
the day we got the money because my debt's gone, but more
because now we can leave the land the way we found it,"
says Jim Lamport about selling the easement. He added, "Young
people can't sell milk to pay a mortgage, so this farm will
now be more affordable to the next generation farmer."
Fairvale Farm lies on 380 acres on Township Road, with 190
acres in corn and hay production and 150 acres of managed
forestland. About a half-mile of stream frontage on Town
Brook runs through the farm, making its way to the West
Branch of the Delaware River and, ultimately, the Cannonsville
Reservoir. In order to have qualified for this conservation
easement, the farm must participate in the Watershed Agricultural
Program and operate under a Whole Farm Plan administered
by the Watershed Agricultural Council. Funding for the easement
was provided by the New York City Department of Environmental
Protection, under a ten-year agreement with the Watershed
Agricultural Council. "Congratulations to WAC and the Lamport
family for their pioneering achievement," said Larry Beckhardt,
New York City DEP's Program Director for the Watershed Agricultural
Program. "Providing the resources for farmers to optimally
manage and conserve their land is one of the best investments
we can make to ensure long-term water supply protection
in harmony with the desires of watershed communities."
The program is managed by the WAC's Dave Dolan, who previously
spent ten years conserving farms for the State of Vermont
Housing Conservation Board. Delhi farmer Fred Huneke, who
chairs the Council's Easements Committee, comments, "This
is one of the first farms that has been conserved by the
Council's easement program. Our goal is to purchase easements
on four more farms this year; we have another ten in progress."
In addition to the WAC easement, The Lamport family is currently
in the process of creating a Public Fishing Access on the
land with the New York State Environmental Conservation.
This would allow recreational fishing in Town Brook, which
provides excellent habitat for renowned Catskill trout species.
The farm also has a half-mile of road frontage on Township
Road. A conservation easement is a deed landowners use to
transfer development rights and permanently protect the
property. Conservation easements prohibit or carefully limit
future development while allowing farming, forestry and
recreational uses. "The working capital that farm families
receive for participating in the easement program helps
them invest in their businesses, plan for retirement and
transfer their farms to the next generation," said Jerry
Cosgrove, Northeast Regional Director of American Farmland
Trust (AFT). "AFT commends this unique partnership to protect
working farms, forestland and water quality." The Watershed
Agricultural Council works to tailor conservation easements
to meet specific water quality protection requirements,
along with meeting each landowner's unique conservation
objectives. The easement remains on the property with all
future owners.
The Watershed Agricultural Council is a non-profit organization
whose mission is to assist farm and forestland owners in
the New York City watershed in the use of voluntary watershed
management. The organization's headquarters are located
on Route 10 in Walton, NY.
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