Using an Operational Planning Support System to Evaluate Farmland Preservation Policies

This chapter describes the use ofa fully operational, commercially available, planning support system, What if?™, to evaluate alternative policies for preserving farmland in a rapidly urbanizing area in the midwestern United States. The chapter describes the study area, Medina County, Ohio, and the What if? model. It then describes the procedures that were used to obtain the required data and to apply the model to Medina County. The chapter concludes by considering the implications which the study has for efforts to preserve farmland and accommodate growth in the County.