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SACRAMENTO -- The
pace of urbanization slowed in Los
Angeles and Ventura counties, with 4,652
acres of land converted to urban uses
between 1998-2000, according to maps
released today by the California
Department of Conservation. The maps are
designed to help local governments
evaluate land-use planning decisions.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program (FMMP), part of
DOC's Division of Land Resource
Protection, maps 44.1 million acres of
California's public and private land to
produce a major study every two years.
In Los Angeles
County, 2,979 acres -- including 1,935
acres of farming and grazing land --
were reclassified as urban land by the
FMMP. The survey does not include the
greater Los Angeles metropolitan region.
It concentrates on the northern part of
the county from Malibu north and east to
the San Fernando and Antelope Valleys.
During the previous
mapping cycle, 3,873 acres of
agricultural land were urbanized in Los
Angeles County. During the most recent
cycle, there was a net gain of 3,329
acres of farmland -- most of it rated as
prime. This is due to newly irrigated
land in the Antelope Valley being used
to grow carrots and a new crop,
potatoes. Some of this land had been
farmed as recently as 1984 but had gone
fallow.
Looking ahead, 10,519
acres in Los Angeles County were
committed to non-agricultural use.
Typically, this is land earmarked for
development. In some cases
infrastructure development, such as
sanitary sewer installation, may be
underway. Of the 10,519 acres, 2,485 are
farmland or grazing land while 8,034 are
classified as "other" land -- neither
built-up nor used for agriculture. This
category includes wetlands, low-density
"ranchettes" and brush or timberlands
unsuitable for grazing.
In Ventura County,
1,713 acres -- 1,243 of it agricultural
-- were re-classified as urban. In the
previous mapping cycle, 2,639 acres were
urbanized. An additional 8,283 acres --
7,152 of it agricultural -- were
committed to non-agricultural use.
Of the 1,077,504
acres mapped in Los Angeles County about
26 percent are in agricultural use and
15 percent are urbanized. In Ventura
County, 555,953 acres outside of
national forest land were mapped, about
47 percent of the county's total
acreage. Of that land, approximately 59
percent is agricultural and 17.5 percent
urban.
The maps have been
sent to planning officials in the two
counties as well as interested
organizations such as Farm Bureaus,
Local Agency Formation Commissions,
planning consultants and area resource
conservation districts.
"We do this mapping
to help counties plan and prepare for
their expected growth in the coming
years," explained Department of
Conservation Director Darryl Young.
"This information is a tool that can
help local governments balance the needs
of a growing population with those of
the agricultural economy."
Between 1990 and
2000, 14,006 acres (4,670 agricultural)
were urbanized in Los Angeles County.
Ventura County saw 9,480 acres (5,487
agricultural) urbanized in that time
frame. Agricultural land in the two
counties will continue to face
development pressure in the foreseeable
future. The California Department of
Finance projects that Los Angeles
County's population will grow from 9.5
million in 2000 to nearly 12.8 million
by 2020. Ventura County's population is
projected to grow from 753,000 to over a
million.
According to the
California Department of Food and
Agriculture, the agricultural production
of Ventura County totaled more than $1
billion in 1999, ranking 10th in the
state. Los Angeles County's production
totaled about $253 million.
The latest statewide
study by the FMMP, Farmland Conversion
Report 1996-98, was released last fall.
About 70,000 acres were urbanized
throughout the state; more than 43,000
acres of the new urban land, an area
about the size of the city of Modesto,
were developed on agricultural land.
Through the
Department of Conservation, the state
offers several programs that provide
financial incentives to keep land in
agricultural use.
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