senior director for farmland protection programs

Robert Wagner has been on the staff of American Farmland Trust (AFT) since 1985 and worked in the field of farmland protection since 1981. In his current position with AFT, Wagner helps communities nationwide build support for and create policies to protect agricultural land.

In this role, Wagner has made presentations across the country at local, state, regional and national forums, meetings and conferences on the importance of farmland and the variety of tools and techniques used by communities to protect farmland resources. Among the places where he has represented AFT in the development of purchase of development rights programs and legislation are Pennsylvania, Vermont, New York and Ohio. He has co-authored a number of publications and studies on farmland protection, including Protecting Farmland Through Purchase of Development Rights: The Farmers’ Perspective and Investing in the Future of Agriculture: The Massachusetts Farmland Protection Program and the Permanence Syndrome. He was a contributing writer to AFT’s national guidebook on farmland protection techniques, Saving American Farmland: What Works.

Prior to taking on a national-level role at AFT in 1994, Wagner served as AFT’s first regional director for the Northeast—covering New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania—for nine years.

Before being hired at AFT, Wagner was a legislative assistant to then-Congressman James Jeffords of Vermont and a land use consultant to the Vermont Department of Agriculture. In both jobs, he played an active role in the promotion and development of state and local farmland protection strategies and programs.

Wagner holds a bachelor of arts degree in biology from Bucknell University and a master of science degree in natural resources planning from the University of Vermont