3480 Department of Conservation
Program Descriptions

30 - LAND RESOURCE PROTECTION

This program protects agricultural farmland and open space through various financial incentives. Under the Williamson Act, landowners who agree to keep their property undeveloped for at least ten years receive lower property tax assessments. The California Farmland Conservancy Program provides grants to local governments and nonprofit land trusts for the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements that permanently remove development rights, and therefore development pressure, from agricultural lands. The Farmland Mapping Program of the Land Resource Protection program develops maps, statistics, and reports relating to farmland conversion, farmland inventory and land protection to assist in local land use decisions.