Carmella Shale, Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District (GSWCD) director and engineer, celebrates with John and Mary Lou Hope, of Thompson Township, after signing their 129-acre farm into the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP)...
From left, Carmella Shale, Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District (GSWCD) director and engineer, celebrates with John and Mary Lou Hope, of Thompson Township, after signing their 129-acre farm into the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP).
The program purchases agricultural easements from landowners who volunteer to keep their land in agricultural production in perpetuity. Since 2018, Geauga’s Board of County Commissioners, with assistance from GSWCD, has been a certified local sponsor to administer LAEPP in Geauga County. As land use continues to change and farmland disappears statewide, the significance of this program cannot be overstated. Geauga County has lost approximately 30% – or nearly 29,000 acres – of farmland between 1964-2022. Because of the Hope family’s commitment to the preservation of farmland, more farmland will stay protected as agricultural land.
