21. 



ANNUAL REPORT 

 Division of Agricultural Land Use 

 July 1, 1974 - June 30, 1975 



Forward ; 



In December of 1973, the legislature approved a bill 

 called the Farmland Assessment Act (Chapter 6"^ A) which demonstrated 

 an increased public concern over the loss of farmland to development 

 and the need for conservation and wise utilization of this resource. 



Results to be achieved by Chapter 61 A were admittedly 

 impermanent, and growing concern over the dramatic rise in food 

 costs, transportation bottlenecks, energy shortages and costs made 

 it clear that the Department of Agriculture shoiild take the lead 

 in the study of better agricultural land use. Chapter 65^- of the 

 Acts of 1974 establishing a Division of Agricultural Land Use gives 

 the department for the first time the vehicle for attacking this 

 problem. 



The basic intent of this act is to provide vacant public 

 land for gardening and farming purposes. While this land, primarily 

 state land, is available to all who make application and aualify 

 priority in the allotment of vacant public land is to be given to 

 elderly persons of low income, families of low income, and children 

 between the ages of 7 and I6 inclusive. The products grown in these 

 gardens is not to be sold. 



In order to bring the division into being, it was felt 

 that a group of knowledgeable people should be brought together to 

 devise methods, establish goals, and prepare reg\alations for its 

 operation. An Advisory Council was subsequently formed and held 

 their first meeting on October 4, 1974. 



It should be pointed out that although the division was 

 established in July work was not begun until October due mainly to 

 two factors. One being that the bill setting up the division did 

 not have an emergency preamble on it, and so it could not become 

 effective for 90 days; and the other factor was the the bill did 

 not provide for any funding. As of the end of the current fiscal 

 year this was still the situation. 



Progress on Division 

 October, 1974 - June, 1975 



October ; 



As has been previously stated, the newly appointed 

 Advisory Council met for the first time on October 4th to work 

 on the various aspects of setting up the division. A second 



