Prime farmland in many regions of the United States is currently under threat from a range of human activities including urban sprawl, rural residential development, and industrialization. Often efforts to preserve agricultural activities in areas where the ideal soil, drainage and climate conditions are in place to support economically viable crop cultivation are hindered by the lack of information and understanding needed to make important choices in promoting farmland preservation in addition to needs to protect significant natural resources (watersheds, forests, wetlands, groundwater reserves) and achieve economic development objectives. A recent study completed for Fulton County in northwest Ohio involved the development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) based methodology for community-level land use planning in order to assist county officials and citizens in making future land use planning policies to sustain agriculture, natural resources and development. A Landscape Suitability Analysis (LSA) methodology was adapted from the existing Land Evaluation and Site Assessment model developed by National Resource Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. This paper describes the development of the LSA process, and it outlines its application for the development of three separate planning scenarios for future land use and development in Fulton County, Ohio. The study utilized GIS technology and data to accurately map the range of natural resources present in the County and to identify land conditions suitable for farmland preservation efforts and those areas that would be sustainable for development. The results of the study indicate the sustainability of agricultural practices based on locating and assessment of prime farming conditions, sustainability of natural resources by identifying areas to preserve these resources on the landscape, and the sustainability of future development by evaluating land areas most suitable for residential land uses in areas not in conflict with the preservation of farmland and natural resources.

Dr Patrick Lawrence is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toledo, Ohio. Dr Lawrence received his Bachelor of Environmental Studies with a Geography Major from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (1989), MSc from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada (1991), and PhD from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (1996). He has been on faculty at the University of Toledo since 1999. His areas of research expertise include environmental planning, community based decision-making, applications of GIS and remote sensing technologies, watershed planning, wetlands and the Great Lakes.