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James Servais retired from dairy farming a few years ago, but he didn't like the trend he saw taking place around him, developers eating up prime farmland.

Servais, a Vernon County Board supervisor, held an informational meeting with La Crosse County land-use planner Charley Handy last week to discuss a program they would like to see implemented in this area to help protect farmland.

"I farmed for 32 years near Chaseburg and I love the land and I love agriculture," said Servais "I turned the operation over to my son about three years ago, so we are still in dairy farming, but over the last five years or so I have been reading these articles in the farm magazines about all of this land disappearing."

Servais said he belongs to the Farm Bureau and he contacted the state office about the issue. Servais did some research and last year decided he was going to do something about that trend. Servais organized a trip with land-use officials from Vernon and La Crosse counties to the East Coast to look into what are known as "purchasing development rights" (PDR) programs.

Servais said the trip was successful, and together with Handy, called last week's meeting to bring together the major stakeholders in land use to discuss how PDR programs work and to see if there would any interest in starting such a program in our area.

The meeting was an informal one at Shorty's Restaurant in La Crosse, but included local bankers, landowners, developers, land- use planners, nonprofit groups and government officials. State Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and 96th State Rep. Lee Nerison (R-Westby) and Brad Pfaff of Congressman Ron Kind's (D-La Crosse) office also attended the meeting.

"A number of people went on this trip and we thought we should come back here and get something going," said Servais. "It is a program that moves very slowly."

Servais said some of the areas they visited on their trip in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York had been working on the program for 25-30 years.

"I thought we should get going so in the next 10 years we have our feet on the ground," said Servais. "This program would help young beginning farmers and farmers that maybe want to take over their farm from their father."

PDR programs vary slightly from region to region, but the basic premise is to pay land owners for development rights to give landowners that are feeling pressure to develop another alternative to selling out. Generally landowners are paid the difference between the agricultural value of the land and the development value of the land. The goal is to protect large contiguous chunks of farmland from development.

A study by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters found that Wisconsin loses about 30,000 acres of farmland per year. Wisconsin had nearly 24 million agricultural acres in 1950 and by 2005, that number had dropped to 15 million. The study points out that nearly 60 percent of acres lost between 2000 and 2005 were in 19 counties, including counties near Minnesota's Twin Cities and Wausau and between Madison and Milwaukee.

While Handy and Servais acknowledged the pressure to develop here is nowhere near as great as the areas they visited, which saw land values rise as high as $25,000-$30,000 an acre, that is the reason to get a program off the ground now before that pressure is too great.

Handy said the process usually begins by identifying areas that are "prime" farmland based on soil type and or topography. A map is often developed of areas that need protection. From there the issue is often public support and funding, said Handy.

"There is a lot of education that is required, so they don't get the shock treatment when they move it forward," said Servais.

"What we have to do is take on some personal responsibility," said Handy. "We have to take on this assignment as ours. We have to go out and we have to talk to people and we have to get bullish on this and the program and we have to make the program good."

Handy addressed one of the main concerns members of the public has when considering PDR and that is the fear of giving up rights that will hinder land use in some other way. Handy said development rights are just one of the rights in a "bundle" of rights that all landowners have. Handy said the sale of those rights would work the same as selling mineral rights to develop a quarry or access rights when granting and easement.

"You still retain all of your other rights you just give up the right to develop," Handy said. "Often the only option is to sell to a developer. Once you sell that property, unless you have very specific language in there, you don't have the right to tell that developer what to do."

Another concern landowners have is loss of property value. Handy said studies of areas where the programs have been used show that land values of property in PDR programs often rise or even exceed values of land not in the program.

George Howe with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy said his organization has successfully purchased recreation and conservation rights of a number of properties in the region. Howe said agreements used to purchase the rights can be crafted to include specific items that landowners want to protect.

Handy said another major obstacle in getting a program off the ground is funding. Some states have coordinated statewide funding of programs. Pennsylvania bonded for $100 million in 1986 to get the program started. Individual counties also provided funding and now the state provides money through a 2 cent per pack cigarette tax.

Handy and Servais said they would like to see a pilot project started in our area funded with private money to build support with the hope that once the program is proven successful more public money can be used.

Servais said he has been in contact with Wisconsin Department of Agriculture officials and they are pleased there is someone working on the issue. Servais said DATCP officials informed him they are working on including the PDR issue in their "Working Lands" initiative they will be presenting to Gov. Jim Doyle in the near future.

"We have to go to DATCP and those guys back there (legislators) and push them to make something work for us," said Servais.

Kapanke said the program is more likely to get state support if there is bottom up support and a grassroots effort like the one Handy are and Servais are starting. Kapanke said the program has to be flexible enough to meet the needs and concerns of landowners.

Jessica Luehning of the Valley Stewardship Network said she administered a PDR program at the county level in Washington state before coming to Wisconsin and the programs can be effective in protecting land, but it should a part of a broader approach.

"PDR programs are one tool in the toolbox for farmland preservation," said Luehning. "PDR won't save farmland by itself, but it is one tool to help in that process."

Luehning PDR programs should a part of the comprehensive planning process and land-use discussions. Luehning said another option is to offset land development by having developers purchase land in another area to be protected.

Luehning, Servais and Handy also said that PDR programs can help prevent fragmentation of farm land that often gets parceled off in 5-10 acre lots.

Servais tentatively scheduled another meeting for Friday, March 14.