1846                                      JOINT RESOLUTIONS

vital concerns; and

WHEREAS, It is not always easy to ascertain which of these bodies are
currently performing useful work, to obtain the benefits of their activities, or to
determine how they fit into the fiscal and other State programs of interest to the
General Assembly; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That it
respectfully requests the Governor to report annually to it on the status of each
board, committee, commission or other unit established by gubernatorial action
such as executive order or executive letter, advising the General Assembly of the
activities of each unit during the preceding year, the expenditures made by it or in
its behalf, the number and composition of its staff, and the location of its office, if
any, and giving the Governor's views as to whether the particular unit should be
retained during the subsequent year; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Governor is requested to deliver this report to the
General Assembly of Maryland concurrently with the Governor's annual "State of
the State" address.

Approved May 7, 1973.

No. 14
(Senate Joint Resolution 43)

Senate Joint Resolution directing the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture
to undertake a comprehensive study of ways and means to preserve agricultural
land in Maryland and prepare a long range plan and any recommendations
deemed appropriate for such preservation, and for related purposes.

WHEREAS, Agricultural land is an exhaustible resource of the State which,
once removed from agriculture, is forever lost for crop and food production, and
for open space uses; and

WHEREAS, Although approximately 50% of Maryland's total land area is
farm, Maryland's agricultural land is rapidly disappearing with an estimated
35,000 acres of farm land annually being purchased for speculation and
development, and approximately 18,000 acres a year being converted to urban,
commercial, or other non-agricultural use; and

WHEREAS, Continuing pressures, by way of high land assessments and taxes,
the encroachment of strip and scattered development in rural areas and by nearby
cities, and growing urbanization, threaten the destruction of Maryland's rural
environment and the disappearance of its valuable agricultural land for agricultural
purposes; and

WHEREAS, Maryland should not become one large urban development
without any balanced agricultural economy; and

WHEREAS, It is essential generally to Maryland's economic and
environmental stability and growth, and particularly to maintain an agricultural
economy in the State, to preserve a sufficient acreage of prime agricultural land;
and