Posted by David Hamilton on December 22nd, 2009

We just saw an interesting short feature on the economic impact of agritourism in Augusta County. Augusta is seeing a comeback in farm acreage, swimming against the tide of decline.  This story focused on some of the non-traditional recreational activities, some very distant from what we’d call agriculture, which are becoming essential economic engines for rural areas. 

The story also brings up one of the most interesting points in rural land policy, which is that attempts to secure and protect rural land for “pure” agriculture sometimes limit the options of landowners looking for creative ways to use, and thereby preserve, their land.  The story focuses on the economic impact of agritourism, but we’d argue that there’s an equally important cultural impact.

A comment on the story relates to model-rocket flying, and the required Special Use Permit for this activity which one would assume happens on farms all the time, and always has.  Coincidentally, Bundoran Farm recently hosted the local Cub Scouts for a small launch event.  Nobody would argue that rocket launching should be in the County’s Comprehensive Plan, but in fact one of the factors that make Bundoran Farm special, one reason why so many people in Central Virginia care what happens to it, is that over the years the Scott family, and their neighbors, and we, their successors, here have invited folks onto the land.  Folks who had nothing whatever to do with farming or forestry, at least when they arrived.

Whether these visitors are exploring exposed rock walls for their geology course, or learning to drive draft horses, or simply living on the property while they go to law school, these individuals form an informed opinion about the management and care of land, and they forge a relationship with this place which endures.  I cannot count how many times I’ve run into a forty-something professional who regales me with stories of spare but bucolic living in one of Bundoran Farm’s cottages when he was twenty-five.  These people move on, and remotely they become constituents of this rural area, and stewards of its culture and landscape.

This of course is one of the subtler elements of the Bundoran Farm project, the introduction (or re-introduction) of people to land, and to the way of life upon it.  We are happy to report that the stewardship ethic of Bundoran Farm’s new residents is no gimmick, no passing phase.  We are continually surprised by the ways in which residents here become attached to, and take ownership (stewardship) of elements of this farm.

Filed under: Agriculture, Bundoran Farm Events and Occasions, General