June 1982 RAIN Page 15 planners in distant urban towers who see rural areas as places from which to extract maximum economic gain according to "rational" calculations of costs and benefits. For rural communities te survive, their inhabitants must take the future into their own hands. In many areas, this starts with the restoration of diversified agriculture. Though the exploitation of country by city is in some ways as old as civilization, the rise of one-crop farming has added a new dimension. Many rural communities have become dependent on food shipped from other regions, an absurd situation for places that could be nutritionally self-sufficient. Monoculture cropping, by using the best land, forces the import of food and the export of income. It also makes rural areas far more vulnerable to price swings. Another step towards the economic revival of rural communities is to bring back traditional renewable energy sources such as wind, wood, water and draft animals. The rise of the petroleum economy has meant a continual drain on rural income, a drain that did not exist just a few decades ago. An example of the efforts that are being made to reverse the food and energy dependency of rural areas and to revive the countryside economy is a study being done by the Partnership for Rural Improvement in Okanogan County, Washington. The topics of the study read like an agenda for the economic renewal of rural America: 1) A search for new and old crops to produce food and energy and to ease dependence on monoculture crops (in this case, apples); 2) Creation of new collective and cooperative arrangements for direct farmer-to-consumer marketing, a step that leaves more money in farmers' pockets by eliminating middlemen; 3) Development of locally controlled financing through co-op banks and credit unions; 4) Establishment of a consulting network to help small farmers solve problems, and. 5) Encouragement of small, local industries that supply and support the rural economy. Such steps make it easier for individuals and families to get into farming and to stay there. Behind the study is a realization that the small farm is the key to re-populating and reviving the countryside. The Okanogan study focuses on what a small, rural county can do to help itself. Such local solutions are necessary to create a rural econoihic renaissance. But it will take a national effort as well. The decline of the farm population must be understood for what it is, a great failure that has left vast stretches of the United States culturally and economically barren. National agricultural research and aid must be directed toward helping small farmers rather than agribusiness. Less expensive farming techniques and supplies must be developed. More than that, the flow of wealth must be made less one-sided. Rural areas must once again become food and energy self-sufficient. Production of commonly used goods must be dispersed. Incentives should be given for job creation in the countryside, so more people can return to small towns and open country. In sum, economic power must be decentralized. Polls consistently indicate that most city dwellers would rather live in the country. But people are blocked by economics. The jobs are in the cities. The flow of wealth in our economy makes this inevitable. So cities become more crowded and unliveable, and rural areas become poorer. We become cut off from nature, and are forced to participate in continental and global systems that deplete nature and make a future less possible. There is no sustainability in this. The angst that pervades cities is perhaps an unconscious recognition of this fact. Common sense dictates that we change course. The land is the vital connection for city and country dweller alike. It must be wisely used and deeply respected. If we are interested in survival, economic and ecological, we really have no other choice. □□ ACCESS Land in America: its Value, Use and Control, by Peter Wolf, 1981, 591 pp., $20.00, from: Random House 201E. 50th St. New York, NY 10022 Directed toward a lay audience. Land in America challenges the mystique of land/real estate as the most secure and tangible investment; a hedge against inflation. Instead, Wolf suggests, the land market and the future of land as a resource are at a crossroads, effected by intricate connections between government policy and private wealth. It is these interrelations that provide the primary focus for Wolf's writing. Mingling photographs, commentary and quotes. Wolf creates a vivid historical portrayal of land ownership in the U.S. That history has shaped the thinking of North Americans about land: the transfer of massive amounts of publicly owned land to private property at minimal prices (to appease the masses and build up the federal coffer); land spec^tion that drove up land prices many times over; town booms and crashes with the advent of the railroads; and the systematic removal of Native Americans from their lands. In the past decade there has been a difficult transition from absolute private rights to increased public control, punctuated by heated court battles. In the last twenty years the debate surrounding land law has intensified, characterized by some as the "quiet revolution." This legal context. Wolf suggests, defines the battle between land as a commodity and land as a resource. Public policy, in areas such as transportation, environmental protection, land use zoning, and federal tax regulation has also had significant and often underrated impact on the value of land. Wolf describes these connections and their inherent inconsistencies. For example, rather than taxing wealth, discrepancies in how real estate taxes are applied favor large landowners over small. Land trusts, designed to protect specific parcels of land from development, often cause the value of adjacent lands to escalate. And zoning, developed to protect vital areas, has too often become a tool of discrimination, escalating housing costs and forcing out low- and moderate-income people. Brief historical tid-bits, current day examples, and clear technical explanations make Land in America a good beginning text. What Land in America lacks in documentation (no references are cited for many of Wolf's declarations), is balanced by the book's readability. Wolf's point is not to expand government or create new legislation, but to evaluate the impact of existing laws. With this clarity, he suggests, we can improve planning and future protection of our land resources. — Laura Stuchinsky
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