Douglas County, Kansas Land Trust look at conserving urban agricultural land

In addition to helping private landowners conserve and protect natural havens for the public’s benefit, a Douglas County program could potentially branch into protecting some urban agricultural land in perpetuity.

The pilot Douglas County Land Protection Program is the result of a partnership between the county and nonprofit organization Kansas Land Trust aimed at protecting biodiversity, supporting local farming and more.

One common way to facilitate permanent land conservation is through a conservation easement, a legal agreement in which landowners consent to restrict developments on their land. Once a conservation easement is created, a government agency or land trust — Kansas Land Trust, in this case — will accept the easement “with the commitment to enforce its terms indefinitely.” The document will then be finalized and signed before being recorded in county land records, and the conditions will apply to all future owners of the land.

Kaitlyn Ammerlaan, the county’s heritage conservation coordinator, and Kaitlin Stanley, Kansas Land Trust director, updated Douglas County commissioners on the program during Wednesday’s meeting.

The county announced the program late last year and has since received 16 inquiries and eight eligible applications from landowners, Stanley told the commission.

Work is now underway on multiple projects, including one partnership among five landowners in southwestern Douglas County — “We’re really excited about the idea of neighbors working together on a conservation corridor,” Stanley said — and a remnant prairie area near Clinton Lake. The latter involves a landowner who has long wanted to protect their land but didn’t have the resources to do so, Stanley said.

But in addition, Stanley said, they are looking at the feasibility of protecting urban agriculture land that can provide opportunities for new and beginning farmers.

“We received an application that was really appealing to us, and this is a new area for the Kansas Land Trust to work in, urban farm protection. And so we’re doing a lot of research and learning to identify the best protection pathway for this property,” Stanley said.

To protect an urban farm would serve several purposes and goals identified in the county’s Climate Action Plan, Food System Plan, and KLT’s Strategic Conservation Plan, Stanley said — among them, supporting resilient local food systems and providing opportunities for new farmers to hone their skills.

“With the corridor down in southwest Douglas County, that will be a much larger project that we’ll need to secure additional funding for, and then we’ll continue on with our due diligence for the other two and try to work with partners that may be necessary to come to the table for an urban farm protection project,” Stanley said.

A conservation easement might not be the appropriate pathway to protect urban ag land, but they are trying to assess what is best for the property and the community, Stanley said. KLT has strict criteria for environmental hazards, she said in response to a question from Commission Chair Patrick Kelly.

“A conservation easement … might not be the best tool that will not have conflict with adjacent uses of land, and so we just need to be really strategic,” Stanley said. “We want to make sure that a conservation easement enhances the community and doesn’t create any barriers to other necessary activities in the community.”

Up to $225,000 was available to support the pilot program as part of Douglas County’s open space initiatives, funded with a portion of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (federal COVID-19 relief) funds.

Ammerlaan said the partners are also working on bringing other folks and funding sources to the table, such as the support of the Kansas Forest Service and federal Forest Legacy Program of the U.S. Forest Service.

None of the specific sites were disclosed during the presentation, though some protected areas will become open to the public in the future.

“We really try to respect the privacy of landowners in our work, especially until an easement is complete, and so during this process, we’re not going to publicize any of that information,” Stanley told commissioners.

Projects are anticipated to be completed in November 2026, according to the program’s timeline. KLT has thus far protected 82 properties comprising more than 41,000 acres throughout the state, according to information provided to the commission.

Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

• Bluesky
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Latest Lawrence news:

MORE …