Committee backs framework for voluntary farmland conservation easements; program would not include state purchase funds

Representative Culp presented House Bill 1234 on behalf of landowners seeking a voluntary tool to protect farmland.

Representative Culp said, “This bill creates a framework for willing farmland owners to donate their conservation easements, if they choose to protect their farms for future generations to utilize to grow food.”

The bill would establish an agricultural conservation easement program in which landowners could donate or bequeath easements; the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) would be authorized to accept and hold easements, and counties could set up their own local programs. The bill, as introduced, does not include a state appropriation to purchase easements.

Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, told the committee HB 1234 “lays the vital groundwork to give farmers and landowners the option to protect their land for future generations” and said the bill would allow Indiana to access federal and…