Host: The City Planning Institute of Japan
Maryland State has a long history of farmland preservation. Target preserved land has been expanded from natural resources to farmland and forest. Additional programs focus on preservation of environmentally critical land. Also, an integrated regional preservation program was introduced as one of smart growth programs. The purpose of these programs has been extended from preservation to control of sprawl. Conservative easement (development right) is applied to preserve land. However, achievement of target figure of preserved farmland is not easy because of budget fluctuation, voluntary base of sales of easement, and increase in easement price. Also, insufficient successors of farming and loopholes regarding farmland subdivision need another set of countermeasures.
