Two Bucks County farms and one from Montco saved in state preservation deals

Three area farms will be preserved in perpetuity thanks to a tax on cigarettes.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture last week announced plans for conservation easements on 24 properties, including two in Bucks County and one in Montgomery County.

Statewide, some 2,046 acres will be protected against future development using a mix of $7.5 million in state, county and local tax dollars. Since 1998, Pennsylvania has been preserving farms with a $25.5 million annual tax on tobacco products.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said it will use $1.39 million to preserve 93 acres in Bedminster. That includes the 63-acre Hunsberger farm on Smith School Road and the 30-acre Heacock farm on Sweetbriar Road.

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The state also awarded $281,181 for a conservation easement on the Moser family farm in Douglass Township, Montgomery County.

In Bucks County, a mix of state, county and local tax dollars have preserved more than 18,000 acres spread across more than 230 properties.

In a series of referendums, voters supported spending more than $146 million on open space.

With conservation easements, farmers retain the titles to their land, can pass the land to the next generation, or sell the property. But it must remain in agricultural use.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsylvania picks farms in Bucks, Montgomery for preservation