44-10-41. Legislative findings.

The General Assembly finds and declares that:

Ensuring permanent conservation of farmland is of vital importance to the state and the citizens of Georgia and essential in protecting Georgia’s agricultural economy, the ecological benefits provided by agricultural lands and activities, the community character enhanced by agricultural landscapes, and food production in the state;#

Creating the Georgia Farmland Conservation Fund Program will enable owners of farmland to voluntarily protect their farmland, facilitate the transition of farms under development pressure to next-generation farmers, increase the supply of locally grown food in this state, and facilitate utilization of federal and local funds to benefit Georgia’s farmland; and#

Utilizing nonprofit organizations, in addition to government entities, to hold agricultural conservation easements will provide substantial benefit to the state by allowing the state to maximize the availability of matching funds from federal programs designed to protect farmland and food production in the state and reduce the costs and burdens to the state associated with enforcing the terms of agricultural conservation easements.#