NC forests, farmland continue to shrink, at least 2 million acres by 2027

http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770425153

Forests, farmland continue to shrink

by John Boyle, JBOYLE@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published April 26, 2007 12:15 am



A new environmental report says North Carolina will lose at least 2 million acres more of forests and farmlands by 2027, including 124,700 acres in Western North Carolina, if current development rates continue.

The report from Environment North Carolina, “Losing Our Natural Heritage: Development and Open Space Loss in North Carolina,” comes as no surprise to local farmers. North Carolina lost 1,000 farms in 2005.


“I see it personally right next door — land that used to be farmland that’s gone now — and it is disturbing to me,” said David Snelson, a fifth-generation farmer in the Leicester area. “The average age of farmers is getting up in the high 50s, and about the only retirement plan they’ve got is the land — to sell it.”

The report found that developed land in mountain counties and those in the Hickory-Morganton area increased 44 percent over the past 20 years, from 591,000 to 852,000 acres.

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:cry:

...I'm moving to Oregon!

Native NCian