Advocates trying to restore funding for open space and farmland protection in green bond

PROVIDENCE – Every green bond issue put to voters since 2008 has allocated millions of dollars to protect open space, farmland, or both.

But the proposal that Governor Dan McKee would add to the ballot this November has money for neither, and now environmental advocates are working with the General Assembly to expand the size of what would be a $50-million bond issue.

What do advocates want to fund?

They’re proposing an increase of $16 million that would include:

• $5 million for the state farmland preservation program

• $5 million for the state open space protection program

• $3 million for open space grants to cities and towns

• $3 million to fund forest and habitat management on state lands

Supporters of the additional funding say it’s necessary to continue land conservation programs that protect wildlife habitat, ensure farmers continue working in Rhode Island, and support climate goals by helping sequester carbon in trees and soil.

They also argue that protecting more green spaces is essential to the quality of life in Rhode Island.

“All of us deserve healthy places to live with access to clean air and clean water and local food,” said Kate Sayles, director of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council.

'Every budget involves hard choices'

The total amount advocates want added to the bond proposal is the same as what the state Department of Environmental Management originally proposed for open space, farmland preservation and forest stewardship in its request to McKee’s office last summer, though the money was broken down differently. The DEM shared the request with environmental groups at the time to bring the advocacy community on board.

When McKee released the bond proposal last month as part of his budget plan, all $16 million in funding in those areas was gone, as well as money to protect wastewater treatment plants from climate change impacts and money for watershed restoration.

Instead, McKee added $20 million for improvements to the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown in support of offshore wind development and $8 million to repair the Cliff Walk in Newport.

DEM director Terrence Gray declined to comment on the changes to the bond proposal.

A spokeswoman for McKee’s office said the administration limited the amount of the green bond as well as other bonds for housing, higher education and a state archives building so as not to increase the state’s debts service payments. Priority in the bonds was given to programs that support economic growth.

“Every budget involves hard choices,” said Olivia DaRocha. “In this year’s budget, which lacked the levels of federal funding included in the last two fiscal years’ budgets, the choices were harder still.”

Rhode Island is losing farmland

As it’s currently written, the bond issue would be the second in a row to exclude funding for farmland preservation. The last time the state program managed through the Agricultural Lands Preservation Commission was included in a green bond proposal was 2021 when it got $3 million.

In the last General Assembly session, with the agricultural commission down to about $300,000 in unobligated funds, environmental groups pushed for a $5 million allocation in this year’s budget and secured half as much.

“It was a huge win for us,” said Sayles of the $2.5 million. “But it’s just enough to keep going.”

Supporters say the program is vital if the state is to keep farmland from being developed for housing or renewable energy. Between 2012 and 2017, Rhode Island lost 18 percent of its agricultural land, among the highest decreases in the country, according to the most recent federal Census of Agriculture. Over the same time period, the number of farms in the state dropped by 16 percent.

But buying development rights to farms costs a lot of money. Rhode Island has the most expensive farmland in the country with a value of $16,000 an acre, five times the national average.

Since 1985, the program has protected 129 farms, covering some 8,200 acres, with the help of $38.4 million in state money and $67 million from other sources.

State money for open space and farmland is leveraged with federal and philanthropic funds

And while the budget allocation is helping to keep the program moving, time is ticking down on when the money can be used, said Diane Lynch, a member of the agricultural commission. While there’s no restriction on when bond money can be used, budget funds must be spent during the fiscal year in which they’re allocated, she said.

That’s a challenge for the agricultural commission because transactions can take up to two years and involve appraisals, succession planning and securing funds from other sources.

As it stands, the agricultural commission has $1.8 million in uncommitted funds, but it still has a backlog of nearly 50 farms that have been accepted into the farmland protection program. Protecting only what are considered to be the highest-priority farms, totaling about 1,500 acres of prime agricultural land, would require $10 million in state money, according to Lynch, who is also president of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council.

“This funding will unlock another $15 million in federal, philanthropic and municipal matching funds,” she said. “But these matching funds are only available if the state has its own funding to contribute."

As for the remaining 2,500 acres of farmland on the list, protecting that land would require even more state money.

House Speaker is favorable to efforts

At the Environment Council of Rhode Island’s annual legislative coffee hour at the State House last week, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi referred positively to the efforts by the Land Trust Council, the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Save The Bay and other groups to fund the programs.

More: This woodland was once targeted for a solar farm. Now, it's protected by the Audubon Society.

“We’re going to take a good hard look at the green bond and make it ... a little bit greener if we can,” he said.

When asked afterwards if that meant he supports increasing the amount of the bond issue, he said more will be known when he and others working on the budget get the latest economic data for the state in a few months.

“If the revenue estimates following the May conference are solid, my intention is to work with the House Finance Committee, the Senate and the Governor to increase the amount of the green bond to be placed on the November ballot,” Shekarchi said in a statement. “I would especially like to enhance the investment in open space preservation.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Open space, farmland preservation left out of RI's green bond