Pulitzer Prize Weekly

Marin County Park is proposing to change the way it spends taxes, including reducing the funds set aside for farmland protection. In a new proposal for the funds generated by the Measure A sales tax, the department proposes to reduce its farmland allocation by half to 10% and reorganize the plan to allow grants for broader agricultural management projects. The proposal was made after a survey showed low public support for farmland protection and a series of meetings held by Park Superintendent Max Korten earlier this year. Mr. Korten said that many stakeholders are concerned that public funds will be used for easements on private land through grants to the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. "One of the things I hear in this worry is that people want to see the community benefit from the funds they pay," he said. "One of our ways to deal with this concern is to reduce overall agricultural funding." MALT has received most of Measure A's farmland protection funding, which is mainly used to generate matching donations to purchase agricultural easements-protecting farmland from permanent subdivisions Right to development. The trust has 54,000 acres of easements and has received US$15 million in Measure A funding in the past ten years. MALT CEO Thane Kreiner stated that the county needs to work with agricultural communities to achieve environmental goals and should not reduce easement expenditures. He said that MALT has protected three times the area of ​​county parks and open spaces, but its work has not yet been completed. Mr. Kreiner wrote in an email to The Light that the proposed changes “posed significant risks to Marin County’s biodiversity, the ability to respond to climate change, and watershed protection”. "We agree with Measure A to diversify agricultural categories, including the management of agricultural land. However, it is short-sighted to halve the allocation of funds and fundamentally eliminate the allocation of permanent protection of farmland." Measure A issued a 25-cent sale The tax, passed in 2012, gained 74% of voters' support. It is scheduled to end in March, but opinion polls show that the public is more supportive of updating it. The measure will be voted on in June, so the park department issued a survey asking residents how to prioritize spending. Farmland protection came last, and a large number of respondents said that it should be reduced. Anti-wildfire ranks first. The new spending proposal will last for five years until another public hearing is held midway through the measure, suggesting that nearly a quarter of Measure A funds should be used to reduce the risk of wildfires in open space reserves. "Our biggest goal is to create more defensive space around our protected areas, as opposed to houses," Mr. Corten said. Most of the new wildfire funds will be redistributed from the farmland protection allocation, which the proposal newly calls "agricultural management." Mr. Korten said that supporters and opponents of farmland protection have expressed interest in funding projects such as carbon agriculture and farmland riverbank restoration, rather than just paying for more easements. The proposal also transforms the conservation easement grant program into a "competitive grant program." Park staff are envisioning a wider range of grant recipients, which may include community gardens and new farmers. "There is nothing in the decree regarding malt," Mr. Corten said. "By expanding the areas that can be funded, in addition to MALT, there may be more organizations that can apply for this funding." Another group, Marin Resource Conservation District, has received approximately $110,000 in farmland grants each year to fund ownership. The pasture project of the MALT easement, and the new proposal does not make any changes to this amount. But with increasing attention to management work, Mr. Corten stated that he expected to allow RCD to spend money on non-easy land. Nancy Scolari, the director of the region, welcomed the change, saying that it will allow RCD to fund more work to plant trees on wider pastures, restore river banks and restore wildlife habitat land. "I think extending Measure A to the non-maltose industry will help provide a fair and just plan," she said. "Now, the allocation of Measure A funds is dedicated to Malted property. The restoration work we do is 100% dependent on the grant funds used by Measure A dollars, which means that our actions to support farmers are biased towards Malted pastures. This is not true. Fair." On December 14, the park department will propose a change to the board of supervisors, and the supervisor will formally review the plan in January next year.