Excerpts from the Foreword: America's land must produce more food and fiber today than ever before. At the same time, additional space is needed for homes, factories, roads, parks, wildlife and recreation, power plants, and all the other activities that knit together the fabric of modern American life. These competing demands for land are becoming more and more a matter of public concern. The Department of Agriculture is concerned with land use alternatives and priorities, particularly those that involve expenditures of Federal funds. Federal projects that take prime land from production should be initiated only when this action is clearly in the public interest. Long-term implications of various land use options on the production of food and fiber must be understood to assure that the public is aware of the trade-offs involved. The papers presented herein were prepared to provide the Department with background information necessary for consideration of national policy objectives regarding prime production lands. Although these papers express the opinion of the authors, and are sometimes critical of the Department's past assumptions or positions, they are indicative of the advice constantly sought by USDA to keep its programs and policies based on thoughtful input from many sources. We hope that in addition to providing facts and opinions for USDA to consider, the papers will spark debate throughout America on the options available for the use of prime lands.
