CFFPI - Farmland Protection Partnership ProgramPress Release: Ohio State Center Announces Farmland Protection Grants 2006 FPPP awardees: Clark County Hiram Village Wayne County Please follow the above links to learn more about currently funded projects. In 2006 - Ohio communities that want to try innovative ways to protect farmland coiuld apply for funding from the Center for Farmland Policy Innovation at Ohio State University (press release, above). The Center's Farmland Protection Partnership Program (FPPP) is designed to match Center resources with local farmland protection priorities. The Center’s resources include funds available for awards to applicants (approximately $180,000 this round), and Center staff’s expertise, which includes personal knowledge base, university researchers working in this arena, and existing national networks of farmland protection experts (both in and out of the university systems). The policy experiments and demonstration projects that result from Center collaboration with local applicants will be conducted in the field to see what can actually work – in some respects, developing a land policy laboratory for Ohioans. The laboratory will aid all Ohio local policymakers by providing on-the-ground demonstrations of completed experiments. Potential projects could include, but are certainly not limited to, examining the feasibility and creating the policy for a new farmland protection program (such as a transfer of development rights program); developing agricultural supportive zoning; establishing an innovative agri-tourism policy/program; developing a pioneering agricultural economic development initiative; and establishing formal relationships between local governments and non-profit land trusts in regards to land protection. This is truly a partnership program. The Center will directly assist successful applicants in developing the work plan that will guide the project. The Center will also play an active role assisting the applicant to execute successful projects, utilizing in-house expertise and Center networks. The criteria for potential projects include:
Additional elements that make a stronger
application include the following. The proposed project: brings together
farmland protection stakeholders in a new collaboration; results in
multi-jurisdictional partnerships; capitalizes on existing resources; includes a
greater than 25% local direct or in-kind match; builds upon existing farmland
protection efforts; and/or promotes best management practices. To enable Ohio
local governments to achieve farmland policy priorities |
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |