NOTE: Farmland preservation............ This coming Wednesday, January 11th, it is anticipated that the Monongalia County Commission will be asked to vote in favor of including our County in the federal "farmland preservation" program, to set up a governing board, and to approve a transfer-tax measure to fund this program. Preston County and many others have already approved such participation.
It is proposed that the MVCAC support this effort, given that farmland is known to provide the essential base for naturally clean air and water, given the common "good farming" practices of forest preservation, grassland and wetland utility, and long term commitments to a sustainable society. The following statement is planned for release this coming week. Comments are invited; and, participation in the County Commission meeting at 10 am on January 11th is suggested.
"MVCAC" STATEMENT.............. "Farmland preservation has huge implications for achieving a sustainable society that can last for decades, centuries, and thousands of years. Here we are on earth, living under conditions that took hundreds of millions of years to achieve. Yet, species extinction is occurring both due to natural and to man-made causes, the latter of which needs to be recognized and reversed. Also, clean air and clean water depend upon our maintaining trees, pastures, and wetlands. The new book by H. H. Shugart of the University of Virginia, "Tales of An Unbalanced Nature", reveals these lessons in such a dramatic and down-to-earth manner."
Duane G. Nichols, Convenor MonValley Clean Air Coalition P. O. Box 4679 Morgantown, WV 26508