.Neighbors are selling to developers. Apparently, the County is driven by their complaints. They invent false and deceptive criticisms. Why? Because if Ticonderoga Farms develops 1200 acres, their own land would become more valuable by joining in with a big regional housing development, with utilities, roads, stores, mini-malls, etc. Soon South-eastern Loudoun will look like Tysons Corner. Unfortunately, government staff and politicians have been embarassingly careless with determining and confirming the facts.

We are the last and only large family owned and operated farm east of Rt 15. The family, now in their 4th generation of farming, want it to REMAIN A FARM. Many of you have been our customers over the years, whether it be for Christmas trees, educational programs, herbs, vegetables (sometimes sold through Safeway), nursery trees (sold through Meadows Farms and all major landscapers), birthday parties, pumpkin festivals or horseback riding at their stables. We now need your voice to be heard so that with your support the farm can continue to operate so it will not be sold to developers. Such a sale could result in over 3000 new home sites! This would require more schools and a great deal of other infrastructure costs costing millions more - which would only come from more taxes on YOU!

The farm has been the first organic farm in the county, one of the first in the State, having developed technology over more than 40 years to be able to successfully grow organically. We COMPOSTED wood to eliminate the need for chemicals! A basic technology as old as life on earth, but they were able to make it happen far more efficiently in the local climate than it normally would have, so the process was efficient enough to use on land normally viewed as only suitable for subdivision.

Organic Gardening Magazine (circulation of 1 million) devoted an editorial to Ticonderoga Farms praising what they are doing. The American Farmland Trust, who have worked with the planners in Loudoun County have endorsed Ticonderoga Farms. Virginia Business has written a cover story which supported them, and even Greenpeace has given its support to their environmental efforts, not to mention numerous other radio, TV, newspaper and magazine stories praising their work.

However, the County solid waste staff recently drafted a new ordinance, which the Board is being asked to amend, which places agricultural composting basically in the same category as trash transfer stations and sanitary landfills (for biological material and hazardous items) - in fact it has been classified as "solid waste". With a new ordinance suddenly making what Ticonderoga Farms have been doing legally for over ten years "illegal", they chose to suspend their wood composting operations - operations vital to the survival of the farm as a farm. Without compost, the poor soils will not sustain quality crops.

The Board of Supervisors has had public hearings and has directed staff to draft changes to the ordinance. In the past, however, staff has consistently drafted provisions which made composting completely impossible. Without public input now, staff is unlikely to change its bias against composting, as they believe that the preferred method of disposal is burning and landfilling. It is important to note that in ten years of heavily regulated operations, regulated by both the county and state with numerous inspections by all agencies from the health department to the fire Marshall and with intensive monitoring of both surface and ground water, Ticonderoga Farms have NEVER been found to be a threat of any sort to the environment or the health and safety of the public nor to have ever caused or been cited for any negative environmental impact from their wood composting operations.

. The County Wars: Jim Burton, Board of Supervisors, wrote "The Pentagon Wars", because he was a whistle-blower in the military. If any one should understand the situation of trying to get the government to listen to the truth, it would be him. Yet, time after time, Ticonderoga Farms has proven that we are correct (with hard evidence, public records, and undeniable proof). We continue to try to get the government to just listen to the truth.

This seems like "deja vue all over again", where Burton and the County are playing the role of the Pentagon refusing to listen to the truth, and we are repeating Jim Burton's role trying to get the government to listen to the facts. Strange world, isn't it?

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING

If a Loudoun resident, please say so. Here are some ideas for comments at the end of this letter.

Please also tell all of your friends whom you might think would be interested in helping preserve Loudoun's farms and open green spaces and lower taxes. We need more parks and open space better schools AND - LESS Houses!!

Although we would hope you to write a letter in your own words, here are some thoughts that give some ideas of what types of comments might be effective.

Subject line "Let Ticonderoga Farms Compost" or "save Ticonderoga Farms" or "No more subdivisions", "Don't force the farmers out" You may copy and paste the following two addresses on the "To" line of your email for simplicity. Loudounbos@aol.com, Farm@Ticonderoga.com, tfi@justice.com (Some programs might require a semi-colon rather than the comma between the addresses)

Possible language for your letter appears below. Again, Please help keep Ticonderoga Farms as an oasis of nature and wildlife preservation in the ecological desert of subdivisions, shopping centers and office complexes.

We have visited Ticonderoga Farms and bought their produce and think they are doing a wonderful job.

We support open space, lower taxes and Ticonderoga Farms!

Our children have been to Ticonderoga Farms and loved it and learned from it - don't force it to close.

Change the law to permit agricultural composting without ridiculous requirements which prevent it.

We have dealt with Ticonderoga Farms for many years and really value what they provide. Composting has provided wonderful crops for us to buy.

Composting is good for the environment and should be encouraged, especially on the larger scale practiced by Ticonderoga Farms.

Ticonderoga Farms provides wonderful products and services to the community and pays taxes - not raises taxes!.

Without Ticonderoga Farms much of this material will be burned to the serious detriment of the air we breath (as it used to be before Ticonderoga started to compost)

Without Ticonderoga Farms much of this material will be illegally buried, as much of it was before Ticonderoga Farms began to compost it.

Ticonderoga Farms pays taxes and helps the economy - housing subdivisions don't.

We need more open space and recreational areas and Ticonderoga Farms provides these.

We do not want to more land developed, especially with the county creating a situation which leaves no alternative other than to develop.

Ticonderoga Farms is like a huge PARK - but it pays taxes, rather than costing the tens of millions parks one fifth its size cost.