ABSTRACT
Many Americans consider the loss of farmland, especially in the coastal states, to be one of the most significant land use problems. Since 1950, the nation and the Mid-Atlantic region in particular have seen substantial reductions in farmland acreage (Gardner 2002). 1 From 1950 to 1997, the United States experienced a 20 percent decrease in the amount of land in farms; the six states of the Mid-Atlantic region (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia) experienced a 50 percent decrease (Figure 19.1). Between 1949 and 1974, the loss in the Mid-Atlantic region averaged 800,000 acres per year. Concern about the loss of farmland resulted in the advocacy, beginning in the mid 1950s, of farmland protection programs to control the loss. As a result of these programs and for other reasons as well, the rate of farmland conversion to other uses has decreased. Changes in farmland acres from 1949 to 1997 in the United States and Mid-Atlantic regions https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203799833/e84045f0-0a74-429b-8dd6-2601b69c92f9/content/fig19_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (source: Carpenter and Lynch 2002).
