Commissioners sign off on LPPRP update Five-year plan prerequisite for receiving Project Open Space funding from state

By Jack Chavez Staff Writer

(June 9, 2023) The Worcester County Commissioners accepted the updated Land Preservation, Parks, and Recreation Plan (LPPRP) with a unanimous vote on Tuesday.

The plan is revisited every five years as necessary to remain eligible for state Project Open Space grant funding. It is prepared by the Recreation and Parks and Environmental Program departments.

“(The LPPRP serves as) the basis for acquisition and development and the best return on (taxpayer) investment,” Environmental Programs Director Bob Mitchell said.

With tourism and agriculture being the top industries in Worcester County, the LPPRP is one of the most vital documents to local governance.

The LPPRP highlighted accomplishments in the county since 2018, including park enhancements at the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex and 30 boat slips installed at county boat ramps, but it also highlighted goals such as acquiring more land for further park development.

Currently, Worcester County features about 100,000 acres of farmland and 150,000 acres of forested land. It is third in the state in poultry production and 23rd in the United States.

Roughly 31 percent of Worcester County is protected land right now.

“How high or low are we with (that number)?” Commissioner President Chip Bertino asked during the presentation.

Mitchell responded that it is a large proportion, relatively, but pointed out that a much of that land is federally owned.

Also, he said, it helps preserve farms.

“You start fragmenting farms and eating them up, cul-de-sacs and whatnot, subdividing (you’ll lose farms),” he said. “It’s just maintaining critical mass for the viability of agriculture.”

The plan states that the county will focus on shorelines, headwater areas, contiguous preserved land swaths and “prime farmland” in future conservation efforts.

A longtime goal that will still be part of future planning is saving 1,000 acres a year to eventually have 100,000 acres of farmland.

Commissioner Ted Elder praised the thoroughness of the plan and simply having one in the first place.

“I think I’ve been asking for years what the goal is and haven’t had an answer and you’ve already put it up here on the board,” Elder said to Mitchell. “The goal is 100,000 acres (of farmland) … I’ve been against a lot of stuff because I never knew what the overall goal, what you’re planning and doing and all that and we keep throwing money, which I understand comes from the state, to preserve not just agriculture but the other stuff too. “

Commissioner Caryn Abbott asked about the difference between farmland and wetland, and the prece- dence for that difference.

“What if one map shows prime farmland and agencies (are) saying the same farmland is wetland)?” she asked.

Mitchell pointed out that farmers have farmed wetlands, too.

“There are unproductive corners of your field,” he said. “You have opportunities where you can take (federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program funding) where you can take that out of production and get paid for that, to take it out of production and create a wetland on your property.”

Chief Administrative Officer Weston Young added that it depends on funding.

“(It depends on) what they’re trying to protect there — if contiguous wetland … if agriculture-specific land is to protect farms and keep their farms instead of subdivisions,” Young said.

The LPPRP’s purview included recreational activities, county parks, natural resources and preservation and agricultural land preservation.