Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
News Editor
news@presspublications.com
Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Sandusky, Lucas, and Ottawa counties have qualified for funding from the Clean Ohio Fund to preserve farmland through easement purchases in 2025.
The Ottawa SWCD is being awarded $143,555, the Lucas SWCD is being awarded $145,479, and the Sandusky SWCD is being awarded $108,282 to select and monitor easements under the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program.
The program allows landowners to voluntarily sell easements on their farms to the state.
The easement requires that the farm permanently remain in agricultural production. Selected farms must be 40 acres or more, actively engaged in farming, participate in the Current Agricultural Use
Valuation program, practice good stewardship of the land, have the support of their local government, and not sit directly in the path of development.
Mike Libben, program administrator of the Ottawa SWCD, said his office has been seeing interest in the easement program.
“We are signing easements this morning with two landowners to complete the 2023 funding round. About 120 acres are getting permanently protected,” he said last week. “One of our goals this year is outreach and we will be hiring someone to fill that position for our office. Two other farms are in the process of protection for the 2024 funding round. We will open up 2025 applications soon.”
In Lucas County, Matthew Browne, H2Ohio technician for the SWCD, said his office has one parcel already lined up to submit an application for the next round of funding.
“We have a number of other landowners that have shown interest and may also submit applications for one or more parcels each,” he said.
A total of $6 million will be available state-wide in the latest round of funding. Nine land trusts, seven counties or townships, and 26 SWCDs are receiving funding for 2025.
Funding for the program derives from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
When combined with easements from all programs, 729 family farms in 62 counties have collectively preserved more than 108,000 acres in agricultural production.
