Posts tagged Ag Reserve
SCA Supports Proposed White’s Ferry Deal
SCA Supports Proposed White’s Ferry Deal

April 29, 2024

After more than three years, a possible deal is in the works to reopen White’s Ferry. This is an unexpected and very promising development.

Before it stopped operating in December 2020, the ferry served as a vital and historic link between Virginia and northern Montgomery County for over 200 years. It was one of the oldest such car ferries in the country, the only remaining ferry running on the Potomac (of more than 100 that once operated), and the only river crossing in a 35-mile stretch between the American Legion Bridge and a bridge near Point of Rocks.

As such, White’s Ferry was an historic treasure as well as a functional service. Routine commuter and commercial traffic—between 600 and 800 cars a day—yielded benefits to both Virginia and Maryland communities.

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Announcements, Spotlight, Conservation & Land Use/ZoningSCAWhite's Ferry, Potomac River, Monocacy Monocle, Washington Post, Marc Elrich, Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, Libby Devlin, Glen Barbour, Ag Reserve, James Brown, Steven FindlayComment
Protecting the Sugarloaf Mountain Area
Protecting the Sugarloaf Mountain Area

Updated January 6, 2024

On December 19, 2023, the Frederick County Council voted down a once-in-a-generation proposal to strengthen conservation and agricultural zoning on 19,700 acres in the southern part of the county.

The area in question in Frederick County is contiguous with Montgomery County’s Ag Reserve.  It encompasses 3,400-acre Sugarloaf Mountain and an additional 16,300 acres to the east of the mountain all the way to I-270.  

The vote came after a three-year process, which saw the Frederick County Council approve a comprehensive land-use plan—the Sugarloaf Mountain Treasured Landscape Management Plan—for the area in the fall of 2022.  The Council struggled, however, to come to political consensus and agreement in 2022 and again in 2023 on an accompanying zoning ordinance—called an “overlay”—that would implement and enforce the plan’s land-use guidance. 

That struggle occurred despite urging by Frederick County’s own planning commission and the Maryland’s Department of the Environment to approve the overlay. 

In a nutshell, the debate pitted environmental and civic groups (including SCA) against developers, real estate interests, and business groups. The latter prevailed in a county long bent on loosely regulated growth.      

The practical upshot is that the area’s existing zoning stays in place, with no updated conservation protections for natural resources, streams, trees or natural habitat— amid the known and unknown threats posed by climate change.    

Importantly, that existing zoning largely prevents commercial and dense housing development without explicit permission from Frederick County authorities.  But the failure of the Frederick County Council to enact the overlay opens up a path for developers and landowners to apply for zoning exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

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Conservation & Land Use/Zoning, SpotlightSCASugarloaf Mountain, Ag Reserve, Sugarloaf Mountain Treasured Landscape Management Plan, John Webster, Stronghold, Sugarloaf Estates Comment
Probing Toxic Chemicals in the Ag Reserve
Probing Toxic Chemicals in the Ag Reserve

A class of toxic chemicals called PFAS can contaminate water, farmland, wells, and crops.  These chemicals have been linked to cancer and other diseases and do not break down in the environment.  An organization called PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) is leading an effort to probe whether PFAS chemicals are present—and if so, to what degree—on Ag Reserve land and in water sources.  

Testing to date has yielded concerning results. Levels of several forms of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances of which there are thousands) are substantially higher than EPA recommended quantities in drinking water in Poolesville. As a result, the town closed two of its 12 wells. These concerning results also led SCA and Montgomery Countryside Alliance (MCA) to join PEER in January in calling on Montgomery County officials to prohibit the use of certain PFAS-containing fertilizers, called biosolids, on county agricultural land—to prevent further contamination of ground and surface waters.  

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Environment, Waste Disposal/RecyclingSCAPFAs, PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), Montgomery Countryside Alliance (MCA), Tim Whitehouse, Ag Reserve, toxic chemicalsComment
Supporting Regenerative Agriculture
Supporting Regenerative Agriculture

SCA is a strong advocate for regenerative agriculture (regen ag). What is that?  It’s an umbrella term referring to an array of agricultural management and production practices that aim to: improve soil; sustain arable farmland; sequester carbon; increase biodiversity; provide healthy forage for farm animals; reduce the use of agricultural chemicals; and promote the growth of high-quality food.  

Regen ag can also help increase food security and climate resiliency amid the challenges of climate change.  Changing weather patterns and extreme weather events are expected to put many food-growing areas in the U.S. at risk. Improved soils hold water better, in flood and drought.  Increasing the amount of food grown locally will help ensure adequate crop growth and food supply. And it will protect against supply chain disruptions, such as those the occurred during the pandemic. Regen ag can also increase the sequestration of carbon in soils.

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AgricultureSCAregenerative agriculture, regen ag, Ag Reserve, Million Acre Challenge Comment