Belchertown Agricultural Commissioner Grace Adzima said there are choices with financial benefits for landowners who want to preserve open space.
BELCHERTOWN – As chairwoman of the Agricultural Commission, Grace Adzima hears from landowners who want to preserve their farmland, so the Commission will host a workshop on Saturday about options for doing so that bring financial benefits.
“A lot of people feel they do not have a lot of options. If they do not have family members interested in preserving the land, they sometimes feel their only option is selling it to developers” Adzima said.
“But there are options, like conservation easements and the state program for purchasing development rights,” Adzima said. “With these it can become affordable.”
The Agricultural Commission workshop, “The Future of Your Land,” will be at St. Francis Parish Center, 10 Park St., from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Joining the Agricultural Commission in the program will be Springfield lawyer William Hart, and representatives from the conservation commissions of Belchertown, Granby and Pelham, the University of Massachusetts and the Kestrel Trust, a non-profit land preservation organization.
“Now is a good time to be getting the word out there because with the economy in the shape it is, there is not a lot of housing development going on,” Adzima said.
Kari Blood, a representative of the Kestrel Trust, said there is a lot of conserved land in Massachusetts, but there is a potential for a lot more.
“We want to get people thinking about this in an estate planning context. There are potential financial benefits for land conservation,” Blood said.
Kestrel Trust executive director Kristin DeBoer will speak at the workshop on how organizations like hers can assist landowners.
“For landowners who own significant tracts of woodland and farmland, deciding what will happen to their land after they are gone is a critical step, not just for their own benefit but also for the benefit of their family, their community and the land itself,” DeBoer said.
Hart plans to explain during the workshop procedures that allow landowners to save on taxes for land that is placed in restricted development categories.
“Landowners can keep their land in the family, dedicate it to agriculture or conservation and save a lot of tax dollars. All these results are greatly satisfying,” Hart said.
The workshop is free, and landowners in Belchertown and surrounding communities are invited. Space is limited, so participants are asked to make reservations by contacting Adzima at (413) 323-7194 or the Kestrel Trust at (413) 549-1097 or kari@kestreltrust.org.