45-42. Purchase or Seeking Funding for Agricultural Conservation Easements.

  1. General. Subject to the availability of funds, the County may purchase or facilitate the purchase of agricultural conservation easements for agricultural and/or forestry lands. All applications for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements will be evaluated based on a ranking system. Applications may be ranked based on various site factors determined by the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District staff and Farmland Preservation Coordinator. Agricultural conservation easements may be purchased in accordance with the ranking of agricultural properties and the availability of funding.
  2. Description. The purchase of agricultural conservation easements is legally binding, restricting the owners and future owners to agricultural and/or forestry land use. The agricultural conservation easements will be held by either Henderson County, the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cooperative Extension, or in public trust by a qualified conservation organization. Agricultural conservation easements will be in perpetuity and compliance with the North Carolina Conservation and Historic Preservation Agreements Act and applicable federal and state laws.
  3. Authority. Henderson County may apply for grant funding for its agricultural preservation program. The County may enter into cooperative agreements with a qualified conservation organization, the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS), the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences Agricultural Development & Farmland Preservation Trust Fund (NCDA&CS, ADFPTF) or other agencies to facilitate the agricultural conservation easement purchase.
  4. Minimum eligibility criteria. There is no minimum acreage eligibility requirement to apply, but grant funding sources may have minimum acreage criteria.
  5. Application procedure. An application must be submitted to the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District staff, Farmland Preservation Coordinator, or its designee. Applications will be accepted year-round, reviewed, and ranked for funding during two (2) annual reviews held six (6) months apart.
  6. Review and ranking of applications. The Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District staff and the Farmland Preservation Coordinator are responsible for developing and maintaining a system to rank and evaluate projects fairly and impartially. The agricultural preservation ranking system will be used to rank and prioritize applications received from landowners seeking the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement. The Farmland Preservation Coordinator, in coordination with the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District staff, will rank each application and present it to the Agricultural Advisory Board for approval.