California Environment Essays - Environment Of California

California Environment A key environmental challenge not only in the Central Valley but also in all of California is how to protect and preserve both the regions agricultural resources and its coastal boundaries. California is a unique state; we are basically a bunch of states/separate regions that are all encompassed under one defined boundary. We have a large coastline, industry, agriculture, mountains, forests, deserts, valleys, large and small cities, and major interstate trade and transportation systems. Two things distinguish our agricultural resources from others: our coastline, and our states geographic diversity in regards to other states. As the state grows the question of where to put things is brought up. The pressures of urban sprawl in California have been evident for many years. The combination of California's growing environmental awareness, and its refocus on agricultural importance have prompted many policy tools to protect not only agriculture, but our coastlines as well. Over the years, many policy tools have been proposed; some have been accepted and others for various reasons (political, economic, and other) have not. Two existing tools for protecting agricultural lands and our coastlines are; The Williamson Act/Land Conservation Act and the California Coastal Act. Each are intended to protect California's resources. To combat the pressures of urban sprawl on California's agricultural lands, the California Land Conservation Act was passed in 1965. It was nicknamed the Williamson Act for its writer, Assemblyman John Williamson of Bakersfield (Mayer, Fence 2). The law was originally designed to keep agricultural lands in agriculture. This was proposed by offering property tax breaks for farmers and ranchers through a ten-year contract. This idea of protecting privately owned farmland from development for ten years through an agreement between the farmers, the county and the state, appealed to many. The popularity of this act is evident throughout California. In Kern County there is more than 1.6 million acres of agricultural related land (valley, foothills, mountains) currently under contract. "Kern county represents grow, by 2020 population in the county is expected to double" (Zapata 1). Kern County is important because it is a key agricultural area in California. Los Angeles and Fresno/San Joaguin Vallies grow closer each day. The area is a major supplier of oil and agriculture. The Williamson Act appealed to many farmers, addressing the issue of raising property taxes, letting them continue to farm. Property taxes were a major concern to the farmers who were feeling the effects of sprawl, especially the smaller farmers. Under the Williamson Act, landowners tax savings could range anywhere from 30-70% depending on what their land is being used for and what commodities it produces. The Act saves farmers a lot of money, in Kern County a total of about 15 million a year. Under the agreement the state then reimburses the counties some of this revenue, about 5 million in Kern County (Mayer, Williamson 2). All of the agricultural lands in California are eligible for the Williamson Act. It does not matter if the land is in the path of development or not. It does not matter what the land is being used for (farming or grazing). The Act's objective is to protect agricultural lands on both the urban fringe and those elsewhere that may be the product of leapfrog development. The ten-year agreement between the landowners and the state renews itself each year automatically. Landowners have two options out of the agreement, cancellation and non-renewal, both of which impose stiff penalties. The penalties amount to a predetermined percentage of the lands total market value. The main objective of the Williamson Act is to slow urbanization. The Act was not created to stop it; it was made to delay the inevitable. The Williamson Act is both good and bad. It does indeed slow urbanization, but the areas that need the most attention (urban fringe) are not really impacted. The Act saves farmers money in the form of property taxes and it does compensate the counties, but this compensation does not balance what is lost. In Kern County the difference is 10 million dollars, money the county is simply out of. Another thing, a ten-year agreement may sound like a long time for the preservation of land but it is not. "Is ten years to short? It probably is if the goal is the preservation of farmland" (Mayer, Williamson 2). Some landowners even find ways to actually benefit from the act. A developmental powerhouse may receive the tax break for their ten years and when they fulfill their obligation they develop the land anyway. This of course is not the ideal situation