A Model Study of Prime Farmland Protection For Platte County, Missouri

Date of Graduation

Spring 1997

Degree

Master of Science in Geospatial Sciences

Department

Geography, Geology, and Planning

Committee Chair

David Castillon

Abstract

The loss of prime farmland to urban expansion in the United States continues to be of concern to planning experts as well as private land owners. This thesis examines the need to protect prime farmland from urban development in Platte County, Missouri, a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The author evaluates the success and failure of incentive and control programs utilized in the United States to minimize the loss of prime farmland while allocating adequate space for urban growth. Using physical and cultural parameters, the author creates a geographic information system (GIS) model of three study areas within Platte County (621 acres each) delineating variables. The GIS results combined with the results of a written survey of Platte County planning officals are used to make recommendations to the Platte County Planning and Zoning Commission for the effective preservation of prime farmland for the future.

Subject Categories

Earth Sciences

Copyright

© Frank J Grass

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Dissertation/Thesis

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