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Since 1996, the Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program has sourced $23 million in compensation to farmer-landowners for the permanent protection of 13,870 acres of agricultural land. The $34 million spent over the past 25 years includes $13.5 million in Skagit County Conservation Futures Tax and $9.5 million in local and federal grants and nonprofit contributions.

The program’s primary goals are to protect the county’s agricultural character and productivity. Protected acreage through 2021 represents 16% of the roughly 89,000 acres designated Agriculture-Natural Resource land in Skagit County....