California's Pilot Land Retirement Program

A five-year pilot habitat restoration project in California may become the model for new land retirement programs.

1 minute read

January 6, 2002, 8:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


As part of a land-retirement program, state and federal agencies are buying 8,000 acres in Kings and Tulare counties and replacing the water-intensive alfalfa and cotton crops with native wildflowers and shrubs. The program is part of a five-year pilot project to test habitat-restorationmethods. If it is successful, it will serve as a template for larger land-retirement programs. Critics of the program worry about a drop in property-tax revenue, job losses and a dwindling population as former farmers leave the area.

Thanks to California Policy Forum

Thursday, January 3, 2002 in The Fresno Bee

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