The California Farm Bureau Federation and the Colusa County Farm Bureau have filed a lawsuit to stop two state agencies from skirting state environmental laws as they pertain to state projects that convert farmland to wildlife habitat. The suit, filed March 29 in Colusa County Superior Court, charges the California Wildlife Conservation Board and the Department of Fish and Game with failure to conduct required environmental reviews.

In this particular instance the two state agencies propose buying a 235-acre conservation easement on a privately-owned farm near College City. The ground is enrolled in the "Super Williamson Act," a state program designed to protect and keep ag land in production. Nevertheless, the state’s plan is to convert the land from its current agricultural use to seasonal wetlands, brood ponds and uplands for the exclusive benefit of wildlife. The easement will explicitly disallow any "cultivation of agricultural crops for commercial gain" or "grazing of livestock," which of course directly conflicts with the Williamson Act status of the property.

It is not the intent of Farm Bureau to prevent the project from occurring, nor to trample the property rights of the landowner. Rather, the purpose of the lawsuit is to force the agencies to observe state law (CEQA), which clearly acknowledges that the conversion of agricultural land to any other use is a significant environmental impact. As such, the project requires a full review before it can proceed. By not undertaking a CEQA review the state avoids having to address the cumulative impacts of such farmland conversions and the required mitigation for those impacts.

The accelerating loss of farmland to wildlife habitat in California is alarming. There can be impacts on neighboring farm operations from flooding, rodents, weeds, etc. The potential Endangered Species Act conflicts are ominous, as has often been pointed out by the Family Water Alliance (FWA). Local governments face loss of income, as do local businesses. Given all these consequences, it is high time that the state starts looking into them and addressing them.

The FWA has been working very hard in recent years to address many of these same issues as they pertain to the Sacramento River Conservation Area. Unfortunately, the problem is much broader than the SRCA, and we at Farm Bureau felt compelled to go to the legal arena after our repeated attempts to negotiate with the agencies have gotten us nowhere. It could take years for the case to be resolved. But we are confident that with the support of the ag community in general, we will eventually prevail.