Missoula County recently released a report on Agricultural Conservation in Missoula County, an Assessment of Working Groups’ Recommendations. This report is a follow-up to a process started back in 2016, when citizen working groups were formed to study agricultural land protection strategies, and made recommendations to the County Commissioners.
The Commissioners rejected regulatory options, and instead chose to focus on voluntary methods of land conservation. Missoula has already lost much of its agricultural land, and continuing population growth puts the remainder at risk.
In addition to the Agricultural Conservation report, the County is working on updating zoning regulations, a land use strategy for urban areas to map where development should be directed (see opportunities for public comment below), and an open space protection plan update that includes agricultural land.
It is questionable that voluntary methods alone will be sufficient to conserve our best farmlands from development and other uses.
We encourage residents to learn more about the issues, attend these upcoming opportunities for engagement, and advocate for a diversity of approaches.
For more information about these and other growth planning projects, and how you can participate, see the Missoula County Planning website. You can also sign up to receive information regarding conservation efforts of agricultural land from the Community Food & Agriculture Coalition at MissoulaCFAC.org.
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