Htuld & Unlgrn 2 Pwtmbtr 81

35

Agriculture Districts—One Way To Keep Farms & Countryside

by-David F. Moore Overwhelming public approval of the $50 million bond issue to preserve farmlandsas such in New Jersey came with the Nov. 3 general election, so now it’s time to launch this pioneering program. This is going to be more easily 'said than done because New Jersey, with its varied topography, differing agricultural pursuits and proximity to markets and ports attracting the export of agricultural products complicate the picture. There will have to be different approaches for different places and farming activities. The best overall solution I’Ve seen so far is a bill planned for introduction in the Legislature by Senator Raymond Zaije of Salem Couhty. It allows for various levels of government to oversee the distribution of bond money. Inr»t, there would be a State Agricultural Development Committee with power to allocate the matching fund moni^. Next in line are county agricultural development boards* or even boards made up one or mort municipalities in case the courity doesn’t set up the needed ' machinery. THE ABILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL FARMER to act voluntarily in committing his land temporarily or permanently to agficulture'is guaranteed under the version of the Zane bill I’ve read. In any case where bond money is used to purchase eayments on farmland, the money will be allocated on a 50-50 matching basis, with the determination of how the funds will be spent at the local level. A keystone of Zane's bill is the authorization to establish agricultural districts, similar to those in New York and Wisconsin, with participating owners of farmland agreeing to keep it agricultural at least eight years. Unless they asked to end their participation, the district and the agreements would automatically be renewed every eight years. The agricultural district system, which stops short ACC Seeking One-Act’ers MAYS LANDING - . Atlantic Community College is soliciting manuscripts for originla one-act plays to become part of a v-jjlay reading/productioh workshop to be held at the college Saturday/May 9,

1982.

Accepted plays will be produced as Works-in-Progress by the ACT Theater Department. Area pla-ywrights are encouraged to submit their manuscripts. Submission deadline is February 1, 1982. For a list of sub-' mission requirements, senfl a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: John Pekich, Comniunica lions and Arts Divisibn, Atlantic Community College, Mays Landing 08330. Antique Show

of buying easements, offers a variety of incentives — such as some tax relief, protection from urbanization, freedom • from complaints by neighbors about agncultulral. ac- ^ tivities and similar conflicts. THE OTHER OPTION IN THE ZANE BILL is the one which has received the most -a*»ention: purchase of agricultural easements so that a farmer can keep owrter'ship of his land and yet receive an agreed-upon sum for the deed restriction -limiting land permanently to agricultural use. Such payments could be stretched out over as many as 10 years, with appropriate interest being • added to the payments, according to the early draft of the bill. / v * Assistance is also to be offered by the measure to stem the loss of topsoil in the Garden State, through soil conservation programs, also to be matched at the local level. Like,any bill, Zane leads off with a number of whereases but in this case they reflect significant-legislative recognition of the urgent need for recognizing a first priority for agriculture, in'areas where this is feasible. TRADITIONALLY. FARMLANDS HAVE SERVED as the state’s reserve of development lands, with little or no heed to the overriding benefits of keeping/armlands in farming. What with leapfrogging development spraw, many farmers have'come to suffer from what has comC to be called the Impermanence syndrome. The system of agricultural districts, reinforced by the purchase of easements, promises to returh stability to the farmer’s outlook. It also promises to avert, the enormous fiscal damage paid by all of us in this state we’re in when the countryside undergoes shotgun urbanization. The very idea of agricultural districts embodies better planning for the areas which won’t be set aside fpr agriculture. Development should be diverted Into more sensible, coherent patterns so that the maximum value of

ACROSS THE FARMER'S field, a hird‘*rcyr view of a recently harvested soybean field In Ix>wer Township. Ho* much longer will the old farmhouse remain opposite an undeveloped field in th)s once niral township which, like all the other JerspCape municipalities, ha* nothing in its

zoning to preserve farmland?

sewers, schools, water mains and other services can be

achieved through higher efficiencies

David Modre is executive director of the N. J Consort

,)\

lion Foundation.

It’s Time To Rebuild Erosion Defenses

COURTLAND BELLAVANCE at one of his Art League

lectures.

Final Art Lecture

CAPE MAY -C The third and final lecture)oh art appreciation being given by Cortlandt Bellavanceat the County Art League, 1050 Washington St., 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Bellavance, Associate Professor of Art at Atlantic Community College, will have as his topic, “How to Evaluate Works of Art." IN PREVIOUS discussions Professor Bellavance has spoken on the overall concept of art and the

MAURICETOWN - The Fire company will hold its

second annual Christmas Mil A FIaFc (\ antique show, with 4l)> IHU/t UClfc

dealers participating, 10

visual arts in particular. He teaches Art and the Creative Experience and Art Appreciation at ACC, and also instructs in fundamental drawing, color, and two-dimensional

design.

The series was arranged by Anita Currier, a League Board member. For further information call the League at 884-8628, between 12 and 4 Thursdays through Saturdays, or 1 and 4 Sundays

a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-O p.m. Sunday. The. location is eight miles south of Millville off Rte.

47.

Million N.J. Grant

‘Glass Night’ Ends Series COURT HOUSE - "A Night of Glass” by Palmer and Virginia Way will be the final mini-lecture in the series' sponsored by the County Historical and Genealogical Society 7:30 tonight' at the. County Library. The Ways, enthusiastic and knowledgeable collectors of pressed glass, will bring some of their collection and will answer questions after the lecture.

‘ SWAINTON - State construction\grant funds of $2.6 million wUl come to the County Municipal Utilities Authority as a result of a successful ballot vote Nov. 3, it was announced at its "recent meeting. The grant application forms have already arrived at the CMCMUA office MUA COMMISSIONER Roy Gillian, who resides in Ocean City, said, “We wept out amf urged the voters of Cape May County to support the ballot question because it woud benefit them directly. They agreed and now the authority will get the funds. It is a tangible thing that happened." All of the Authority’s new wastewater treatment facilities are * being financed with 75 percent federal grants and now have the potential to

receive an additional 8 percent state grants. The remaining 17 percent would come from local user charges. $1.6 MILLION of the state funds are earmarked for the Ocean City Region’s wastewater treatment facility, and $1 million for the ocean outfall. An application for $56,436 has also been received for a Step II design grant for the Cape May Region. Pandullo Quirk Associates, consulting engineers, were awarded contracts for $83,826 to, participate in the .value' engineering efforts for the Seven Mile/Middle and Wildwood/Lowef Regions. "The work will involve the wastewater treatment facilities as well as the pumping stations for, both regions," CMCMUA' Executive Director George Marinakisexpla ined.

by Larry E. Newbold COURT HOUSE - The recent storm that battered Cape May County beaches presents an excellent opportunity to review some of the beach erosion aspects of soil conservation. The county was very fortunate to fare as well as it did in the recent storm. The storm of 1962 has faded in the memories of most residents and is pure history to the new residents who have moved into the County since 1962. Softie residents complained about the loss of sand dunes and beachgrass due to the recent storm and felt that it might be a good time to review just what purpose the sand dunes really play jn the environmental scheme of things here. I relate the sand dunes to the same purpose that a heat shield has on a space capsule. The heat shield is placed on the space capsule to be destroyed on re,-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, with the end product that the space capsule and its inhabitants are protected and survive. Sand dunes play the same role in the environment here. The beaches are very complex and are an ever moving system. Sand particles are constantly moving and the sand duneSjare an excellent structure for absorbing the energy of a coastal storm. Sand dunes that are planted with American Beachgrass and fertilized on a regular basis are able to. withstand the effects of erosion better tha those that are unprotected. THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN Beachgrass plants arc much like a spider web, in that they knit the dune together internally. The energy of the wave is dissipated on the sand dunes Ind the dune is eventually destroyed, but hopefully the houses behind the dunes are protected. Residents see the sand disappear as a result of a storm, but this .sand is merely washed of! shore a few hundred feet or more and this’same sand will eventually be redeposited on the beach as the result of every day wave action. In areas such as Strathmere and Whale Beach the Extension Service and the Soil Craervation District were aware of the past history of the areas — the fact that this game area was breached in 1962. To construct a proper sand dune in this'area, wtth the proper slope, would have required a sand dune to be plkced on top of Cape May County’s famous Ocean Drive! Since this was not possible they at least tried to stabilize the sand dunes that existed. THE WHALE BEACH area was againhit hard this year, but this storm was hundreds of miles off shore, so we can consider ourselves extremely lucky. Coastal storms can be expected at least once each

10 years; we were long overdue for this one. We could have expected a storm in 1972, but of course, storms do not just nappen every 10 years Community officials and environmental groups should take a hard look at the vegetative dune stablization programs and the overall, development plans in their communities to help ensure that we are not creating more problems for the future. We can all give thanks during this thanksgiving season so little damage was done and concentrate on rebuilding our defenses for. the next storm, which is bound to come / NOW IS TI|E TIME to start rebuilding this protective shield. Beach erosion pro tection is an ongoing project that should be properly funded and should be a 365-day-a-year job for each of our seashore communities. Communities such as Avalon have done pn excellent job of vegetative dune stablization and fared very well in this last storm.' The fact that jhey did lose sand dunes is to be expected and the fact that eftmmuni-. ty officials have vowed to start rebuilding again showsithat they have learned their, conservation principles well. They realize that beach (jrosion is a give and take proposition and now is tlje time to replant again and hope that we do not experience a major storm in,the very near future. Officials of seashore communities would be well advised to follow the excellent lead in conservation which Has been graphically displayed over the years by Avalon officiali and locakqonservationists who have spent mapy hours and days planting beachgrass and drcctirtg snow fence on the dunes of Avalon. INDIVIDUALS AND communities desiring technical information and literature on American Bdathgrass are encouraged to call the Cape May County Extension Service, 465-5115 or the Cape-Atfantic Soil Conservation District in Mays landing at 625-9400. v Homeowners who have experienced salt water flooding might fonsider the application of-agricultural gypsum to their lawn and garden areas. Agricultural gypsum should be applied at the rate of 80 lbs. per each l.OOOsq. ft. Fresh water should be used to waph the gypsum into the soil. The gypsum will improve the soil structure and thus help to remove salt from the soil. Gypsum has verjr, little effect on soil acidity (ph) and this should not be Of concern to hortie gardeners. Some storms are followed by a great deal of rainfall which helps to wash the salt out of lawns and gardens, but this last storm did not have this teaching affect due to limited rainfall. Larry Newbold is Agriculture Agent with the Cape May County Extension Sert vice.,