Farmland Preservation Campaign

RenewLV’s “Save It or Pave It”

Farmland Preservation Campaign

As the only not-for-profit organization in the Lehigh Valley dedicated to Smart Growth, RenewLV continues to be a powerful voice in influencing public and governmental opinion, educating the public, and shaping the regional political debate. We are in funding campaign mode to support our most urgent issue, farmland preservation and we need your help today.

Like you, RenewLV believes that our farmland and the fresh food it produces are a vital to the Lehigh Valley’s future. Like us, you probably can’t imagine this community without it. However, influential forces are at work that are forcing us to make a decision: we can do nothing and continue to lose 3.9 square miles of our precious farmland every year to development, or we can act with urgency to preserve what little we have left.

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission projects that 145,000 people will move to the Lehigh Valley over the next 20 years. Massive warehouses are popping up on pristine farmland almost overnight. Truck traffic is expected to double in that time period.

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s 2005 Comprehensive Plan, adopted by both Lehigh and Northampton Counties, calls for the preservation of approximately 25% of the region’s land for agriculture. At the rate we are going, we will need a miracle to protect one of our best assets.

RenewLV polled our neighbors. The majority of voters in Lehigh and Northampton Counties are concerned enough about farmland preservation that they are willing to pay for it — up to $25/household per year for ten years.

We reject the notion that government can’t be part of the solution. But we also know that it will take a concerted effort by concerned citizens to stir our elected officials to action to preserve our farmland. The counties must restore funding for farmland preservation this budget cycle.

Let’s show them that plenty of us care about farmland preservation. Let’s show them that we care enough about our children and our own well-being to protect rather than squander our farmland and the fresh food it produces along with the very identity of our region, and the quality of our water and our air.

RenewLV needs your help TODAY to fund our farmland preservation campaign. $10, $20, $50, $100, $200 $500, $1,000 or more will help. We will be utilizing every resource (every penny) at our disposal for the next six months to make sure elected officials understand how important farmland preservation is to you!

Please donate here, or make a check payable to “RenewLV” and mail it today to 1337 East Fifth Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015.

Your donation will be used to fund our campaign, which will include printed materials, mailers, social media, community meetings and outreach, face-to-face meetings with elected officials and much more.

RenewLV has already gathered numerous individuals together in ten public engagement events to discuss local food systems and farmland preservation. To see a short video summary of our Save It or Pave It event, click here. To view our farmland preservation toolbox, click here .

Thank you SO much for your support of RenewLV to help save farmland in the Lehigh Valley.

Renew Lehigh Valley is a 501(c)(3) organization. Your donation is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. A copy of the official registration and financial information for Renew Lehigh Valley may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement