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SACRAMENTO -- The
amount of agricultural land in Shasta
County continued to decrease while
urbanized land increased, according to a
new map released by the California
Department of Conservation.
More than 1,300 acres
were removed from agricultural
categories while nearly 1,000 acres were
added to the urban total between 2000
and 2002.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program (FMMP), part of
DOC's Division of Land Resource
Protection, documents land-use
conversion on 45.8 million acres of
California’s private and public land
every two years. The maps and statistics
are designed to help local governments
evaluate land-use planning decisions.
The 2000-2002 mapping – the clearest
look yet at state land use thanks to
improved digital mapping processes -- is
ongoing throughout the state.
“This information
helps counties and cities see the
patterns and make informed choices about
how they want to direct growth in the
future,” Department of Conservation
Director Darryl Young said. “The
population of California will continue
to grow, and it’s vital that we ensure
there’s enough room for people and
agriculture.”
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program classifies land
as either farmland (prime being the best
of four types of farmland), grazing
land, urban land, other land or water.
The “other” category includes
low-density "ranchettes," wetlands, and
brush or timberlands unsuitable for
grazing.
In Shasta County,
according to the most recent FMMP
report, 989 acres were urbanized while
2,411 acres of farmland were downgraded
due to being idle for three or more
mapping cycles. The vast majority of the
land downgraded -- 2,188 acres – was
prime farmland. As a result of the
reclassifications, grazing land
increased by more than 1,000 acres.
Examples of recent
urbanization in Shasta County include
125 acres of new homes in Redding, 100
acres of new buildings and a road near
the Redding airport, and 20 acres of new
structures in the Cottonwood area.
Since the 1990 FMMP
survey, Shasta County has gained 6,524
urbanized acres while 5,000 agricultural
acres have been reclassified.
The agricultural land
in Shasta County will continue to face
development pressure in the foreseeable
future. The California Department of
Finance projects that the county’s
population will increase from 165,000 in
2000 to 231,000 by 2020.
According to the
California Department of Food and
Agriculture, the gross value of Shasta
County’s agricultural production was
$91.5 million in 2002.
The maps have been
sent to county planning officials and
organizations such as the county Farm
Bureau, Local Agency Formation
Commission, city planners, irrigation
districts and county resource
conservation districts. Printed copies,
enlargements, or digital versions of the
maps are available to the public. Call
(916) 324-0859 or email
fmmp@consrv.ca.gov for more
information.
The latest statewide
study by the FMMP, Farmland Conversion
Report 1998-2000, was released last
June. More than 91,000 acres were
urbanized throughout the state – a
30-percent increase from the 1996-98
mapping cycle – and 27 percent of that
total came from irrigated farmland.
Through the
Department of Conservation, the state
offers programs that provide financial
incentives to keep land in agricultural
use. The California Farmland Conservancy
Program makes grants available to local
governments, land trusts or resource
conservation districts to purchase
permanent agricultural conservation
easements from willing landowners. These
easements prohibit future development.
Farmland Security Zone and Williamson
Act contracts provide potential tax
benefits to landowners who commit to
keeping their land in agricultural use
for periods of 20 or 10 years,
respectively.
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