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Show August 1973 Utah Farm Bureau News Page 5 Reform planners threaten land private ownership By Leonard II. Johnson Assistant Director Natural Resources Department American Farm Bureau Federation This nations concept of private ownership of land is undergoing a major shift. The spread of land use regulations and management programs at all levels of government reflects that. People who study land use planning ask: Will private ownership of land survive this planning revolution? Some feel it obviously will. But nobody can predict how the demands for more orderly planning for land use will change the traditional ownership concepts. Militant land use reformers say private ownership of land is obsolete. They claim that to reflect the public conscience, traditions need updating, so that land ownership will meet the needs of a changing world. To stop what they consider unwise use and waste of valuable land resources, these reformers are discussing four new ownership plans: 1. Putting agricultural lands into public ownership. blessing to local zoning in 1926, the issue was what kind of restrictions and where, not whether there should be restrictions. During the past few years, America has been involved in a land use tools of the revolution have been new land use laws. They share one common theme: The need to increase private and public coordination in land use revolution. Basic decisions. At the start, state governments considered land use regulation a local problem. A major change is the growing idea that states, not local governments, are the most capable units for handling some land use Pollution control, protecting critical natural resources, and so on, usually seem to be beyond problems. the capacity of local governments. At the same time, local governments seem to be best for applying workable land use controls. The land use controversy has brought but these four ideas: 1. Private ownership of land should be preserved. When government purchase (such as for highways) or changes in authorized use damage private land values, landowners Making farmlands available to leases private operators on long-terfor agricultural uses. 3. Returning farmlands to private ownership on a limited basis, requiring that the land stay in farm production. 4. Keeping farmlands in private ownership, but with the government holding all land development rights. When Land moves out of agriculture, later use or development would be decided by government agencies. should get compensation and redress in the courts. 2. Local governments should have the dominant role in developing land use plans and putting them into effect. 3. The state should have a major role in setting up land use goals to inprotect resources of non-loc- Whether private ownership of land is obsolete or not may never come to a national vote. It may, however, slip quietly away because local leadership failed to act. Toone wins 200 reward al terest. 4. The federal governments role should be restricted to helping the states. Landowners had better provide intelligent, cooperative leadership in land use planning. Otherwise, there is a real danger that the professional planners will promote programs that place decision powers in state and federal bureaucracies. Whether private ownership of land will survive depends on the skill of owners and local interest groups in setting up effective land use machinery. Such machinery must bring about more orderly use and development of land resources. The forces for land use reform come from the population centers. But the push to save private ownership of land clearly must come from the minorities who own land and live in rural America. Happy to reap the benefits of his quick action in bringing thieves to justice is Paul Toone of Draper (right). He received a Farm Bureau reward check for $200 from FB insurance agent Vic Hatch recentlyafter the conviction of three young men. He saw them leaving the home of his father, Earl Toone, who lives next door. He chased the thiefs and, when they stopped at a restaurant, he phoned police, who made an arrest within minutes. (NOTE: This reward offer by Farm Bureau also applies to cattle rustlers who steal from Farm Bureau members. Any member who doesnt have a reward sign and who would like a free me should contact his Farm Bureau insurance agent. 2. m 0 Protection of flood plains, wetlands, and coastal zones are other areas of deep environmental concern for land use reformers. Basic reasons these people give for farmlands ownership are: moving into TH public The belief that producers treat land as a commodity and. base its value on monetary or production capabilities. The belief that producers do not recognize land as a great natural resource. Since real estate taxes are the main source of revenue for most local governments, local zoning often favors land uses that produce quick tax income. This is often at the exuses as pense of such libraries, parks, and other ways of protecting valuable environmental resources. non-reven- ue Studying local and state government relations and national land needs can yield many possible answers to these land ownership and development questions. Land use controls are not new to this country. As early as 1692, the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law forbidding nuisance industries in certain districts. In the early 1900s basic ordinances for building heights, fire districts and land use appeared in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Local zoning, as it came to be known, provided a wide range of regulatory options, plus a way to achieve public agreement. After the Supreme Court gave its A 0 (DOiQiE&lfhtilElh lUtnrt rffliBHBftlipfr KKH mniaTaaiHSiaia ASSOOIATilO R) |