Vermont Land Trust Press Release - Important Farmland in the Mettowee Valley Protected

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 3, 2007

Important Farmland in the Mettowee Valley Protected

The Mettowee Valley is known for its productive farmland, strong agricultural economy, and in recent years, sharp increases in land values. When the productive and highly visible Mettowee Valley Sargent farm went on the market in 2001 it caused quite a stir. The asking price was high, even for the valley. Fortunately, a local family that has long supported the conservation of working lands purchased it. This month, Alan Calfee and his parents, June and Peter Davis, sold a conservation easement on the 125-acre farm in Rupert, the Vermont Land Trust announced today. This meaningful decision will keep the land in farming for this and future generations.

Over the past 20 years, Mettowee Valley residents have dedicated themselves to planning for the area’s agricultural future. These efforts have resulted in conserved farmland from Dorset to Pawlet. The Vermont Land Trust helped the family conserve their land through the use of a conservation easement. An easement helps landowners voluntarily limit development on productive farmland and forestland, and other meaningful natural and community places. Landowners continue to own, manage, and pay taxes on the land and can sell their land; however, the conservation easement permanently remains on the property.

This conservation easement also includes an Option to Purchase at Agricultural Value, a tool designed to assure the long-term affordability of the land to future farmers. This easement purchase was made possible through funding from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the John Merck fund. This easement is co-held by the Vermont Land Trust, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Agency of Agriculture.

Alan Calfee, a local consulting forester, and June and Peter Davis purchased the property hoping to keep the land in farming and forestry. Jeremy Russo, a local dairy farmer, leases the 93-acre agricultural portion of the land, which offers some the best valley-bottom soil available. Jeremy’s home farm, the Graf/Russo farm, has always been central to the valley. Jeremy and his brothers, Gabe a forester and Joel a vet, are part of the next generation of Mettowee farmers and the community feels that protection of land available to this farm is especially important.

“We are delighted to be able to support Jeremy in his agriculture venture; he is innovative, hard-working and really cares for the land,” said Alan Calfee.

In addition to the land’s agricultural resources, the wooded portion of the property has steep, rich northern-hardwood forest that leads down to a rare and scenic floodplain forest along the Mettowee River. The Calfee/Davis family has been working with NRCS to remove invasive species and re-vegetate a buffer along the river.

The Calfee/Davis family sold the development rights significantly below their market value because of their long-held belief in protecting the farmland of the Mettowee Valley. “We are still feeling the post-closing euphoria,” said Alan Calfee. “My folks are very proud and happy to be actively participating in conservation of the Mettowee Valley.”

For 25 years, the John Merck Fund, and a decade later the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, have been helping the Vermont Land Trust purchase development rights on farms in the Mettowee Valley. The Calfee/Davis farm had been one of the last large Mettowee Valley farms not yet conserved.

“We sincerely appreciate The John Merck Fund for its thoughtful, patient and persistent investment in outstanding land conservation in the Mettowee Valley for more than 20 years,” said Gil Livingston, president of the Vermont Land Trust. “The Sargent Farm is a productive, spectacular gem that now contributes to a string of eight adjoining conserved farms along Route 30. Because of the vision and leadership of the Calfee-Davis family, the scenic, agricultural and riparian richness of this farm are now secure.”

The Vermont Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that works with individuals, organizations and communities to conserve land for the future of Vermont. Since 1977, the Vermont Land Trust has helped conserve more than 1,300 parcels of land covering over 455,000 acres, or about 8 percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes more than 600 working farms, hundreds of thousands of acres of productive forestland, and numerous parcels of community lands. This conservation work changes the lives of families, invigorates farms, launches new businesses, maintains scenic vistas, encourages recreational opportunity, and fosters a renewed sense of community. For more information, call (802) 223-5234 or visit VLT on the web at www.vlt.org.

For more information, please contact: Elise Annes, the Vermont Land Trust Vice President for Community Relations at (802) 223-5234 or Donald Campbell Southwest Regional Director (802) 442-4915.