Smart Growth Pioneer State Loses Ground In Farmland Preservation

According to state planners, at least half the state's counties lack meaningful limits on housing development in rural areas. Some counties' long-standing unwillingness to restrict housing development in their rural regions has undermined an otherwise worthy preservation effort. Some county officials, however, say land prices have climbed so high that many farmers who haven't already done so are unwilling to sell their development rights.

Thanks to Kui Zhao