RECREATIONAL AND FORESTRY USES OF LAND 

 IN MASSACHUSETTS 



By David Roztnan, Assistant Research Professor of Agricultural Economics 



INTRODUCTION 



One of the most important developments facing Massachusetts is the rapidly 

 changing conditions of land utilization shown by the decline in the amount of land 

 in farms according to the Federal Census. The withdrawal from farming of large 

 land areas creates in different agricultural communities a set of problems which 

 can not be fully understood or dealt with without better information and analysis 

 of the effect produced by new trends in land utilization. The study of part- 

 time farming brought out the fact that much of the land in the State previously 

 held by regular farmers is now operated by part-time farmers. Further indications 

 are that much of the land withdrawn from agriculture is being devoted to recrea- 

 tional and forestry uses. The latter begin to rise into greater and greater promi- 

 nence in the general scheme of land utilization in the State. Considerable areas 

 of forest land are being acquired by public and semi-public bodies, and land for 

 recreational purposes, especially for playgrounds and summer homes, is being 

 taken up by the people living in the cities. 



With these factors in mind it is intended : 



1. To trace the changes in agricultural land ulilizalion during the last few 

 decades. 



2. To ascertain the new uses of land taken out of agriculture with a special 

 consideration of land used for recreational and forestry purposes. 



3. To analyze the effect of recreational and forestry uses of land on agriculture 

 in Massachusetts towns. 



4. To devise land policies consistent with both the interests of agriculture 

 and the best methods of utilization of land resources in the State. 



Changes in Farm Land Utilization in Massachusetts 



According to the United States Census of Agriculture the total amount of farm 

 land in Massachusetts has been steadily declining during the last few decades, 

 registering a drop from 3,360,000 acres in 1880 to a little over 2,000,000 

 acres in 1930. (Chart 1) The loss of almost 1,360,000 acres during this 50-year 

 period was accompanied by a decrease in the total number of farms from 35,406 

 to 25,599. (Chart 2) Of much greater significance, however, is the change in 

 the improved acreage. Not only has the total amount of land in farms declined, 

 but a great decline has taken placealsoin the a mount of farmland under cultivation. 

 The improved acreage on farms in 1930 was only 725,739 acres, or a little over 

 one-third of what it was in 1880. At the present time there are in the State 118 

 towns, or about one-third of the total number, with less than 25 per cent of their 

 total area in farms. In 62 towns the average value of farm land is below $25 per 

 acre, and in 34 towns below $15 per acre. To this should be added the fact that 

 128 towns have less than 40 per cent of their farm area in improved land, and 54 

 towns less than 25 per cent. 



^Rozman, D. Part-Time Farming in Massacliusetts. Mass. Agr. E.xp. Sta. Bui. 266. 1930. 



