California Farm Bureau Takes Land Case to Court

December 5, 2000

California's Farm Bureau plans to take a case over farm land losses to state court. Farm Bureau sued Cal-Fed in September to prevent the loss of farmland and agricultural water supplies by halting land and water purchases by Cal-Fed. The joint federal-state program was created to find long-term solutions to environmental and water problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.

A federal judge in Fresno allowed two state agencies to be removed as defendants in the California Farm Bureau Federation's lawsuit against Cal-Fed. The state attorney general had petitioned U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger to remove the state agencies and three state officials from the Farm Bureau's federal-court suit. The judge allowed the Farm Bureau to file an amended federal complaint against individual state officials. The Farm Bureau's suit against federal agencies and officials is not affected by the ruling.

"The ruling does not seriously harm our overall case," CFBF President Bill Pauli said. "It merely means a change in strategy. It will require us to file a separate suit against the state agencies in a state court. But we are prepared to do so. The crucial issues at the heart of this case are too significant.

"California farmland is an environmental resource with worldwide importance. Cal-Fed seeks to acquire about a million acres of farmland and hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water. Cal-Fed must adequately address the significant environmental impacts it will have on California agriculture, and it must recognize the contributions to wildlife and habitat already being made by many working farms.

"It's important for all Californians that we keep our farmland in production," Pauli said. "All Californians benefit from our state's continued agricultural productivity. Through this legal effort, we will show that Cal-Fed agencies have much to gain by working in partnership with farmers instead of trying to force them off their land."

The California Farm Bureau Federation is the state's largest farm group, representing 94,000 families.