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4/10/2018
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Sen. Morgan opposes DEM plan to acquire farmland
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STATE HOUSE – Senator Elaine J. Morgan, (R-Dist. 34, Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond, West Greenwich), today announced her strong opposition to a state-run program that would allow the Department of Environmental Management to buy farmland and resell it below cost to new farmers.
In a letter to DEM Director Janet L. Coit, Morgan said, “While I applaud your agency’s efforts to preserve farmland, I do not believe this is the way to go about it. Rhode Island does not belong in the real estate business. I see this as an attack on our farms!”
Morgan seeks to work with Coit and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation to help the existing farmers stay on their land so they can continue farming it themselves, not sell the farmers’ land out from underneath them when they are struggling to survive.
“This plan states that its purpose is to permanently protect farm properties, but it doesn’t define ‘permanently protect’ nor does it define what they consider to be an ‘affordable transfer,’” Morgan said. “What if the DEM buys out parcels of farms in our area, and the people who buy the farms fail – what happens to the land then?”
The proposal stems from a 2014 bond question that voters approved that permitted $3 million to be used to “protect the state’s working farms.” Morgan said she is concerned the plan DEM favors is too loosely defined and has problems.
For more information, contact:
Katie Haughey Cardoza, Senate Minority Office
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2708
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