For nearly half a century, California has balanced its explosive growth with a sensible, cost-effective program that protects a vital sector of our state economy – agriculture – and does it in a way that benefits all of us.
Today, that landmark law, known as the Williamson Act, is at risk.
Passed in 1965, the “California Land Conservation Act” expresses the state’s commitment to protecting vital food-producing farm and grazing land, along with the additional advantages such land provides: wildlife habitat preservation and watershed protection. Land conserved by the act can also act as a buffer against leapfrog development.
Under the law, farmers and ranchers who agree to keep land in agriculture and open space are permitted to pay taxes at a lower rate than the full market or development value.
The state then partially reimburses local government for the lost tax revenue. The contribution by the state is nominal – just a small fraction of 1 percent of the overall state budget – but the return is significant.
The question is, will the state this year see the soundness of this investment? In today’s highly competitive global economy, the law literally helps California farmers stay in business: It is said that one-third of California farms wouldn’t survive without the Williamson Act.
You don’t have to be a farmer or live in a rural area to reap the benefits. All of us enjoy the field-to-table products that farms provide. Open space also helps protect threatened and endangered species. In the Sacramento Valley, rice and corn fields provide some of the last roosting and foraging grounds for iconic migratory water birds like the greater sandhill crane.
The far-reaching impact of the Williamson Act on California agriculture and the state’s overall land-use planning is striking. A satellite image of California spotlighting the agricultural production would reveal millions of acres dispersed throughout the state.
More than two-thirds of this agricultural land – about 17 million acres – is protected and preserved by the Williamson Act. And this land “under the act” contributes significantly to the state’s coffers and the nation’s food supply, preserving California’s enviable role as the nation’s leader in agricultural output.
The fact is, the Williamson Act is one of the most effective on-the-ground tools to ensure that California’s land resources of today will be there for everyone’s future. This is especially true of agricultural land at the urban fringes in our state that are especially threatened by development.
Last year, the state essentially suspended its financial support of the Williamson Act. California should not make a similarly short-sighted decision this year, which would hasten the threat of losing the program altogether. The loss of the Williamson Act will be significant and far-reaching in local communities and across the state. Once gone, its positive impacts will be difficult, if not impossible, to replicate.
Today’s state budget crisis requires lawmakers to make some tough choices. Our counties face even more dire funding crises as a result of state funding cuts. Without Williamson Act “subvention” funding from the state, many counties will be forced to cut deeply into local public safety and health and human services programs.
Protecting California farmland and open space is too important to let unravel. We can ensure that won’t happen through an ongoing commitment to the Williamson Act. The state needs to keep this vital law “on the job” and working for all of California.