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Dave Vanasche is farming land in Cornelius that his grandfather, Carl Wunderlich, homesteaded in 1896. He doesn’t think setting aside a supply of farmland for the next 100 years is too farsighted. In fact, he would prefer that the region had a 300-year supply.

The problem, he said, is that Oregon’s farmland is tapped out.

鈥淕od didn’t make any more land and we’re already farming all of it that there is to be farmed,鈥� Vanasche said. 鈥淭hat’s the point we try to make to our urban friends 鈥� that there isn’t any more, so we just have to be very conservative on the amount that we use for urban uses.鈥�

Vanasche, two other Washington County farmers and 1000 Friends of Oregon are taking that argument to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Last week, 1000 Friends of Oregon announced that it would challenge the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development’s recent approval of Metro‘s designated urban and rural reserves in Washington County. The organization contends that Metro and Washington County inappropriately identified thousands of acres of agricultural land for future urban expansion.

Per Senate Bill 1011, Metro and local county governments are required to identify urban reserves (land outside the urban growth boundary that can be used to accommodate future population and employment growth) and rural reserves (land to provide long-term protection for agriculture, forestry and other natural uses). The goal is to ensure that a 20- to 30-year supply of urban land exists beyond the 20-year land supply in the UGB.

The result is supposed to be a balanced approach to growth. But Mary Kyle McCurdy, policy director for 1000 Friends of Oregon, said that in nearly every instance in which there was a close call about whether farmland should be designated rural or urban, Metro and Washington County went for the latter.

Following a remand, the DLCD approved 13,525 acres of urban reserves and 151,209 acres of rural reserves in Washington County.

McCurdy said that may seem to be a substantial amount of rural reserves, but added that they are so far outside of the UGB that none is threatened by urban sprawl in the next 50 years 鈥� so their designations are pointless. She said that highly productive farmlands 鈥� some of the most productive in the world 鈥� near the UGB are at risk.

鈥�(Agriculture is) one of the top three industries in the state,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s a growing industry and it depends on soil. We’re not reproducing the soil, so once it’s gone, it’s gone.鈥�

In 2011, crop production in Washington County generated $265 million in gross sales 鈥� 7.5 percent of the state’s total.

Vanasche farms about 2,300 acres. Today, he grows wheat, two types of grass seed 鈥� a perennial ryegrass and a tall fescue 鈥� and two varieties of clover seed. His land hasn’t drawn an urban reserve designation, but he has seen the impact of urban sprawl.

The once-rural road in front of his house now sees some 3,000 cars a day. In the next couple of months a lawsuit, in which a driver’s car rear-ended another on the road, will go to court. The plaintiff is alleging that dust from operations on Vanasche’s farm caused the accident.

Vanasche believes protecting farmlands in Oregon is a global issue.

鈥淭here’s just not enough land to feed the number of people that are going to be on this Earth,鈥� Vanasche said, 鈥渁nd so every one of these acres that’s productive is very critical to the future of the world.鈥�

However, at the same time, Metro is required by law to plan for future population growth. And it predicts that in 2030, the population of the seven-county metropolitan statistical area will be between 2.9 million and 3.2 million people. By 2060 it is expected to be between 3.7 million and 4.48 million.

The chairman of Washington County’s board of commissioners, Andy Duyck, declined to comment on the issue because of the pending litigation. Robin McArthur, planning and development manager for Metro, said she also preferred not to comment because 1000 Friends had not yet submitted its arguments.

But 1000 Friends of Oregon isn’t the only organization that has criticized Washington County’s urban and rural reserve designations; the Oregon Department of Agriculture had similar objections.

Jim Johnson, land use and water planning coordinator for the department, said Washington County and Metro rendered agricultural lands next to the UGB less viable even if they were highly productive and compatible with surrounding industrial uses.

鈥淭he lands that were actually under threat and needed protecting were up against the urban growth boundary or in some cases next to some of the other smaller cities in Washington County 鈥� and yet little if any of that land got designated as rural reserves,鈥� he said.

In addition to the group featuring 1000 Friends of Oregon, eight other groups are challenging DLCD’s approval of Metro’s urban and rural reserves for a variety of reasons. McCurdy said all briefs are due by Sept. 25 and that responses to those briefs are due 20 days later.

Hearings for oral arguments are required to be expedited, but there is no time limit for the court to issue its decision.

McCurdy said she already is seeing property listings touting their newfound status as urban reserves. Vanasche said that being inside the UGB (a potential future for those lands) can raise the value of an acre of farmland from $10,000 to $500,000 鈥� an appealing prospect for a farmer who’s ready to throw in the towel.

As such, Vanasche knows that his view of the situation isn’t necessarily popular.

鈥淚n my case, the land’s been in the family for 115-odd years and I’ve just always had a philosophy that I ought to leave the land in better condition than I found it,鈥� he said. 鈥淔inancially, I would be a lot better off if I just got out of the way because eventually in the next phase, when they come back and need some more (land), maybe all of mine would come in.鈥�