Is Placer County doomed by its appeal?

Last fall, a group of farmers, ranchers and agricultural advisors met to explore this question.

There was broad agreement about the challenges facing the county's agricultural community. But more important, the group, which has become the Placer County Ag Futures Project, identified a unified vision of the ideal landscape 30 years out.

This vision recognizes the population will keep growing. But communities of homes can be integrated with communities of farms in ways that enrich the lives of all residents.

Housing and commerce take land; but neighborhoods can achieve a balance, with space for people and protection for farmland and the overall environment. Placer County has the potential to provide much, if not all of its own food: high quality sustainable products for local needs.

Despite its appeal, the county is currently not moving toward this vision. Transplanted urbanites are frequently at odds with their agricultural neighbors. A remarkable amount of fine agricultural and forest land is lying unused.

The Ag Futures Project seeks to change this direction.

The project is motivated by a fundamental ethic - land that is nurtured and used is vastly more likely to be preserved than land that is abandoned. With that in mind, the project is working to expand existing local efforts to connect local agriculture with the broader local community.

More importantly, members are developing programs that will train sustainable agriculture and silviculture to new farmers. This training will stress neighbor-friendly approaches to farming and forestry.

Once trained, the farmers will be connected with unused but potentially productive land and guided to local customers who want their products.

Which direction it takes is up to all of us.