National Trust President Richard Moe's Statement on the 2008 Farm Bill
Richard Moe
Credit: Robert Lautman
Whether you live in rural America, were raised there, or simply enjoy visiting rural communities throughout our nation, this year's Farm Bill includes language that will help to preserve the rural heritage that is important to so many Americans. In particular, I am pleased that for the first time in the Farm Bill, Congress supported incentives to foster "heritage based" rural development projects. Lawmakers have recognized and endorsed the important role that historic preservation plays in our nation's rural communities by deeming such projects eligible for certain rural development grants.
Other important historic preservation language in the bill includes: expansion of assistance for protection of agricultural lands containing historic and archeological resources, a two- year extension of tax incentives for conservation easement donations, and reauthorization of the Historic Barn Preservation Program.
These new provisions will encourage rural communities to put into practice heritage-based projects that encourage sustainable rural development and conservation.
A lot of the credit for this success goes to our partners, along with the United States Department of Agriculture, and of course, our friends in Congress. For the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this success builds on our decades of experience assisting rural communities through initiatives such as our Main Street Program, Heritage Tourism Program, and BARN AGAIN! Program.
The rural heritage language in the new Farm Bill reflects our recent experience in two rural pilot projects of the National Trust for Historic Preservation funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Innovative and exciting projects in the Arkansas Delta and Central Kentucky Heartland are demonstrating the community and economic benefits of heritage-based rural development approaches.
We look forward to staying involved with the measure's regulatory process at USDA and to ensuring that sufficient funding is secured during the appropriations process for the Farm Bill programs that include historic preservation language.
To learn more details about historic preservation initiatives in the 2008 Farm Bill, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/public-policy/farm-bill-reauthorization.html.
