LESA—agricultural land evaluation and site assessment

Excerpt

AGRICULTURAL land protection policy is not a “no-growth” policy. It is a policy that supports urban growth in a compact, efficient pattern, conserving both agricultural and urban resources. Determining which agricultural land to protect and under what conditions involves important, difficult decisions.

Over the past two years, the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) has tested the agricultural Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) system, which shows promise for helping state and local officials make sound decisions about land use. LESA was designed in response to requests from SCS district conservationists and Cooperative Extension Service personnel in a number of states. These people's work with state and local planners on agricultural land protection indicated a need for a technically sound tool to evaluate land at the local level and to determine the conditions that justify conversion of agricultural land to other uses. Planners found it difficult to judge whether prime, highly productive farmland near urban areas should be protected and under what conditions such farmland should not be protected.

LESA has now been tested in 12 counties in six states: Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, and Florida.

LESA in action

LESA is designed for use by planning …