Our Newsletter

Stepping Stones

We’re in favor of a concept aptly described by a professor of Biology at the College of Wooster.  She envisions land preservation as creating a series of stepping stones, individual islands of open space that provide valuable breathing space for the countryside and which establish habitat islands for species moving between these green spaces.  In our farmland preservation efforts, we note how the preservation of sections of land encourages others to think of farming as a primary industry.  When farmers act on their belief that farmland is important others can begin to understand how their own valuable land resources add to the protection of the industry.  Land stewardship encourages new generations of farmers and helps sustain the farm infrastructure, consisting of grain handlers, equipment dealers, food processors and retailers.  Every farm saved represents a stepping stone toward the protection of the whole, thus assuring the future of agriculture as a community economic resource.