Secretary Allen Biehler
PennDOT
Keystone Building
400 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Secretary Biehler:

This letter is written regarding the proposed highway improvement on Pennsylvania’s Route 41 corridor from Gap, PA to the Delaware state line. We take this opportunity, on behalf of American Farmland Trust (AFT), to encourage the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to refrain from increasing roadway capacity because of threats posed by this increase to the continuing agricultural use of land that abuts this roadway.

First by way of introduction, American Farmland Trust, with headquarters in Washington, DC and field offices throughout the country, is the only national nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to saving farmland, helping communities plan for growth with agriculture in mind, and promoting agricultural practices that lead to a healthy environment. AFT has been actively involved in farmland retention and protection efforts in Pennsylvania since our founding in 1980 and assisted the Commonwealth in the establishment of its Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program in 1988.

Through our "Farming on the Edge" projects, carried out first in 1993, again in 1997, and most recently in 2002, AFT analyzes the impact of changes in land use on the nation's farmland on a state-by-state basis. These intensive studies map the relationship between high-quality farmland and land development pressure in the United States. While land protection efforts in Pennsylvania make it a leader in farmland preservation (with an investment of over $500 million and the preservation of more than 250,000 acres of agricultural land), the state continues to lose productive farmland at an alarming rate.

The 1997 study identified the Northern Piedmont, that area stretching north from Virginia through Maryland and Pennsylvania to New Jersey, as second only to California’s Central Valley in loss of farmland to development, especially near metropolitan areas. The 2002 study indicates that over the next five years, loss of farmland in the state increased by 23 percent with a deficit of approximately 27,000 acres each year. Chester County, PA is part of this threatened region and is of significant agricultural importance.

We are concerned that a significant increase in roadway capacity on Route 41—and the attendant "improvements" that would accompany the increase—could create consequences that cannot be reversed, most particularly the loss of agricultural land use in the area. Both the county and a number of private conservation organizations have protected agricultural properties along the corridor, and any public project that conflicts with these efforts should be avoided.

Furthermore, increasing capacity of this roadway appears to be in direct conflict with the executive order on agricultural land preservation issued by Pennsylvania’s Governor Rendell on March 20, 2003. This order, a copy of which is enclosed, clearly identifies the critical importance of agricultural land use and production to the Commonwealth and advocates protection of what he defines as "prime agricultural land." In support of this order, the farmland along the Route 41 corridor should be protected for historical, economic, cultural, and environmental reasons.

We do not believe that an increase in roadway capacity will benefit Chester County and assert that going forward with this increase will irreparably harm the area. AFT has found that many times promotion of conflicting land uses and policies are the beginning of the end for agriculture in rural communities. As this region represents some of the most productive and highly valued agricultural land in the United States, we hope that every effort will be made to protect and promote its continuing productivity.

If we can provide any further information or comment, please do not hesitate to contact us at 202/331-7300.

Sincerely,

Ralph Grossi
President

Kevin Schmidt
Director, Mid-Atlantic

cc: Dee Durham, Executive Director
Safety, Agriculture, Villages and Environment (S.A.V.E.), Inc.

Attachment: Executive Order 2003-2, Agricultural Land Preservation Policy