Last week WDC members toured the 95,000-acre Agricultural Reserve in upper Montgomery County. Guided by Caroline Taylor, Executive Director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, the group explored five stops across the Ag Reserve which is a first-in-the-nation visionary plan that set aside a large swath of the up-county decades ago.
The goals of this sweeping zoning change were -and remain- several:
Manage and restrict sprawl, with its prohibitively expensive implications for government services: extending sewer and water, road networks, libraries, fire & rescue, schools and other public amenities.
Preserve the economic viability of both commercial and smaller-scale farming and agricultural activity. The Reserve also includes national, state and local parkland.
Retain dwindling open space through a coherent large-scale plan for environmental and recreational purposes in proximity to a major and increasingly urban region. The plan protects our drinking water supply and air quality, and offers access to hiking, biking, birding, hunting, camping and more.
