Committee advances farmland preservation update; member prepares appendix listing threats and legislative asks

The Land Conservation Committee received an update on its farmland preservation plan revision and a proposed supplemental appendix that seeks to close the loop between county plan goals and specific requests to state policymakers.

Committee member Charlie Ortman described work on an 'appendix' titled "Threats to Farmland," which he said catalogs the principal pressures on local farmland (fragmentation, reduction, toxification and climate-driven instability) and pairs each threat with recommended county actions, practices that have demonstrated positive results and specific requests for state assistance. Ortman told the meeting that the appendix is roughly three-quarters complete for several sections and that he intends to work with Mary Jo to finalize the remainder.

Ortman framed the appendix as a way to make the county's plan a more actionable advocacy document: rather than simply describing local goals, the appendix would list specific, resourced steps the county believes the state should take, including legal or funding changes, and would be transmitted to Madison along with the updated plan.

Why it matters: Committee members said the appendix could help translate local landowner concerns into specific legislative or administrative requests to the state and could guide the county's requests for funding and program changes that would support farmland preservation.

What's next: Ortman said he will meet with Mary Jo after the committee to review the draft appendix and then propose it as part of the final farmland preservation plan materials to be submitted to the Northwest Regional Planning Commission and ultimately to the county board and state reviewers.