1 ni P or 11 and O bserver • M arch 26, 1997 Farm land threatened Urban sprawl is engulfing prime farmland so fast that the United States may be forced by the middle of the next century to import more food than it exports, a conservation group contends. American Farmland Trust pro­ jected in a "worst-case scenario" today that with the U S population expected to jum p 50 percent b\ 2050 and high-quality farmland projected to shrink 13 percent, the nation could become a net food importer within 60 years. That probably would lead to diffi­ culty in dealing with a host o f social, economic, food security and envi­ ronmental issues, said the report. "Farming on the Edge "The destruction ofour best farm­ land by spraw I development reduces ouragricultural efficiency, increases tensions between farmers and sub­ urban neighbors, leads to higher tax burdens and puts greater pressure on less productive, more environ­ m entally fragile lands here and around the world." said AFT Presi­ dent Ralph Grossi U S agricultural exports totaled a record $59.8 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September, and the Agriculture Department is fore­ casting total farm expons o f $56 5 billion in the current fiscal year. Regardless o f whether the worst- case scenario actually occurs, the AFT report said, "the loss o f open space, wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge areas and other benefits attributable to farmland are reason enough for our country to develop its land in a more efficient manner, directing development onto land less suitable for grow ing food and fiber ” The A griculture D epartm ent's natural resources conservation chief. Paul Johnson, would not say how accurate the report’s projection was, but welcomed it as raising an impor­ tant topic "It’s something we should be very concerned about," Johnson said. "In my lifetime, the world population has doubled twice, and the next 25 years, there should be up to 8 billion people.” USDA already is examining the threats to farmland, but Johnson said he did not disagree with the conser­ vation group’s request that it better quantify them. The study found that between 1982 and 1992. 4.3 million acres of prime farm land were overrun-nearly 50 acres every hour o f every day. Every state shared in the loss, it said, most frequently to scattered and frag­ m ented urban developm ent near major metropolitan areas. Texas lost the most farmland. 489.000 acres or I 1.5 percent o f the I S total. Otherstates with big losses were North Carolina, Ohio. Georgia and Louisiana. The study placed the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley in central California at the top o f its endan­ gered list, followed by the Northern Piedmont areas o f Maryland. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia Also threatened were the South­ ern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Drift Plain, the Texas Blackland Prairie and the Willamette and Puget Sound Valleys o f Oregon and Wash­ ington. The 20 most threatened regions produce 51 percent o f the fruit and 39 percent o f the vegetables grown in the United States. AFT said the federal government should strengthen, expand and en­ force its farmland protection pro­ grams and change federal estate tax laws to encourage farm families to keep their property in agriculture. It also urged the government to quan­ tify farmland by its agricultural im­ portance and vulnerability to rapid urban development. AFT urged local communities to analyze land development trends, agree on which farmland to save and adopt the necessary policy reforms. AFT is a private, nonprofit con­ servation organization Its study was funded in part by the Philip Morris Cos The educational ranch Continued from Front A m erican Education Data Book which reports that from 1984 to 1994 there has been a 2 19 percent increase in the percentage o f black women obtaining first professional degrees. But. while blacks who received doctorates in education and theol­ ogy doubled the number o f whites (percentage-wise), they were at the bottom in engineering and science. already see a trend toward less diver­ sity on the college campus as special programs for minorities and women have been cut back since that Califor­ nia state system lawsuit Many, many special scholarships and student aid programs for these groups have been terminated as a direct result. I n te r e s tin g ly , th e A fric a n ALL YEAR YARD WORK Complete yard cleanup Trimming and Lawn Mowing Free E stim ate: 656-4391 3pm to 8pm Asian group decries magazine Asian-Americans are outraged at the latest cover o f the National Review magazine, which depicts Bill and Hillary Clinton buck­ toothed with narrow eyes and w earing stereotypical Chinese clothing. Asian-American groups have threatened to protest outside the New York offices o f the conser­ vative magazine, claim ing the cover is offensive and racist. The m onthly magazine has been flooded with letters since the issue hit the stands last week. " It’s reminiscent o f the carica­ ture made o f the Chinese in the 800s,” Daphne Kwok, execu­ tive director o f the Organization o f Chinese Americans, told the Daily News in today’s editions. Vice President AI Gore is de­ picted on the cover as wel I, wear­ ing Buddhist robes and holding a cup spouting with money. The caricature is a reference to ques­ tionable fund-raising efforts at a Buddhist temple in Los Angeles. Flooding in large areas of U.S. Spring flooding could be more widespread this year than in any year in the past decade, with the upper M idwest's snowbound w inter leaving that region especially vul­ nerable, government experts said Tuesday "Even without rainfall in the up­ per Midwest, there is enough snow on the ground that w e’ll probably see some flooding,” Frank Richards, of the National Oceanic and Atmo­ spheric Administration, said at a briefing Areas along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota, and the James River in South Dakota, face potential record floods when snow that was unusually high in moisture levels melts this spring, said Richards, chief o f N O A A ’s National Weather Service Hydro- logic Information Center. Spring rains could bring flooding in the Ohio River valley, which was pummeled in February and March by rains and deadly floods, and in the sodden Mississippi and lower Missouri river valleys, as well as parts o f the Southeast and West, the NOAA said. With heavy winter precipitation over much o f the Midwest, flooding also should be widespread in the eastern Dakotas, southern portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin and northern Iowa, Richards said. "As a result o f inflow from so many tributaries, minor to moderate flooding is a virtual certainty on the lower Missouri and Mississippi riv­ ers,” he said. The agency also said spring floods are likely in the northern and central Rocky M ountains, par­ ticularly in Idaho and parts o f M ontana, W yom ing, U tah and Colorado, w here snow packs are well above average. Areas along the lower Milk River in northeast Montana could have record floods, and much o f Wash­ ington and northern Oregon also have heavy snowpacks and face spring flooding, the agency said. Deep snow in the central and southern Sierra Mountains could produce floods in western Nevada and the Sacramento and San Joaquin river drainages in California, but experts said six weeks o f generally dry conditions have greatly reduced flooding threats for much o f the Far West. Other areas with above-average risk for spring floods include the Great Lakes region and much o f the S o u th e a st from e a ste rn T ex as through South Carolina, excluding Florida and southern parts o f Ala­ bama and Georgia. With such severe flooding threats the legacy o f heavy winter snow and rain over the middle third o f the nation NOAAofficialssaidpeople should take precautions. During the recent flooding in the Ohio river basin, more than 20 people lost their lives. Many people perished in vehicles, and most o f these fatalities occured in areas that were under flash flood and/or flood warnings." Elbert Friday Jr., NOAA assistant administrator for weather services, said. “ In many cases, the loss o f life was preventable,” he said. Local Insurance company recalcitrant An Oakland Superior Court jury ordered Oregon Mutual Insurance Company to pay $567.641 to a couple whose home and possessions were destroyed in the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, a devastating firestorm which destroyed more than 3.000 homes and caused an estimated $ 1.5 billion dollars in damage. The McMinn­ ville, Oregon-based insurance com ­ pany had refused to honor its own policy - or the urging o f then-Cali- fomia Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi - and would not pay the replacement value o f the couple’s possessions. The suit was initially filed in 1993, afterOregon Mutual InsuranceCom- pany paid Barbara and Christopher Westover for the replacement value o f their home, but refused to pay the $723,841 replacement value o f its contents - paying them instead a pre-set limit o f $165.200 for their possessions. The com pany told Arnold Levinson, attorney for the W estovers, that O regon Mutual would not pay the W estover's claim because it would then be forced to pay the replacement value claims o f A d v e rtise In (T lje all its policy holders "O regon Mutual ignored their ow n p o lic y , the v alue o f the W estover’s possessions and the Cali- fornia Insurance Com m issioner,” said Mr. Levinson. “The company was worried about setting a prece­ dent. I guess the jury, in awarding every penny the W estover’s re­ quested for replacement o f their pos­ sessions, set the precedent for O r­ egon Mutual.” In Westover vs. Oregon Mutual Insurance Company, which went to trial on March 3. 1997, the company argued that it did pay the replace­ ment value o f the W estover’s pos­ sessions, but on ly up to the $ 165,200 limit. Superior Court Judge Joseph Carson ruled that the $ 165,200 limit applied only to the current dollar value o f the possessions, and that undei the clear terms o f Oregon M utual’s policy, the company was required to pay the full replacement value o f the items. Many insurance companies faced claims after the devastating O ak­ land Hills lire. However, at the urg­ ing o f Commissioner Garamendi. most insurance companies honored claims for the replacement value o f the homes and possessions destroyed in the fire. After Oregon Mutual ignored his initial request, the In­ surance Commissioner called com ­ pany executives to California for a personal meeting during which he strongly urged the company to honor replacement value claims. The com ­ pany still refused. Mr. Levinson and Terrance J. Coleman served as legal counsel to the Westovers. Mr. Levinson is a partner and Mr. Coleman an attorney in the firm Pillsbury, Levinson & Mills, one o f the premier litigation' firms in San Francisco specializing in insurance company disputes and bad faith litigation. In February 1997. the firm won a $26 million bad faith award in Vann vs. The Travelers, the 5th largest bad faith award for an individual in California history. 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