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Chairman, Mario Peraldo presented the final draft of the Summary Document at the Lahontan Valley Environmental Alliance board meeting held December 4, 2006. This document was the final result of many months and hard work of all the working group members. This six page document summarized the comments and ideas the working group discussed throughout the past months. These ideas address the many attributes and problems with agriculture in the Lahontan Valley. The document discusses ways to preserve agricultural producers and Ag land in the valley. Covering every topic from Transfer of Development Rights, residential and commercial development, importing and exporting water, alternative crops, agricultural tourism, Ag marketing, Ag production improvements, and most importantly Ag education to all members of our local and neighboring communities.
“Communication and cooperation are imperative if we are to optimize improvements in the before mentioned areas. We cannot have education unless we have good lines of communication. We cannot tell others about our products, we cannot learn of other markets unless we communicate with those markets. And also it is with agriculture production and diversification: without effective communication, the desired improvements are hard and perhaps impossible to obtain” Mario told the board as he read from the document.
“We need to maintain and promote the agricultural identity of the community. Agricultural diversification, marketing and education are all intertwined. There is a lot of important agricultural information and many agriculture related groups and agencies with information. From the Agricultural Preservation Working Group meetings and from other experiences with the agricultural community, it often seems that those outside the Ag community are more concerned and supportive of agriculture than members within the agriculture community itself. That is good news in that it shows there is community support for agriculture.”
Some ideas include posting signs into the community proclaiming “Entering an Ag Friendly Community”. Sending a questionnaire out to local residents asking the importance of Ag, problem areas, solutions and ways to identify useful information on agriculture in this community. Peraldo ended the presentation to applause by the board.
This is just a very brief summary of the document created by the Agricultural Preservation Group. If you would like to receive a full copy of the document by either e-mail or mail. Please contact LVEA @ 423-0525. Please leave your full name, address and e-mail.
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