GRAND RAPIDS -- It could be years before officials consider whether Kent County should fund its purchase of a development rights program aimed at preserving prime farmland, Kent County Commission Chairman Roger Morgan said Thursday.

Lowell Township Supervisor Paula Blumm fears that may be too late. Lowell is among five townships in recent weeks to endorse a proposal urging the county to fund the program it established in 2002, according to a report issued Thursday to the Commission.

The program pays farmers the difference between the farm value of the land and what they could get selling to a developer and instead places the land in trust so it can never be developed. The county board approved the program precisely because there were no county funds committed, but a growing list of community leaders like Blumm say that's no longer an option.

"The county needs to step up and support its own program, even if it's just some sort of commitment that they intend to fund this program in the future," said Blumm whose township with 29 percent growth in the past eight years has seen farmland disappear faster than anywhere else in Kent County.

"It's becoming more of a concern as people get educated on land use issues," she added. "People can see it happening, and they're becoming alarmed by it. They're becoming aware that once you lose the farmland it doesn't come back."

Lowell unlike other county communities has seen continued development pressures despite the current housing slump. Blumm said her township still issues three to six building permits monthly and recently granted preliminary approval for 50 more homes in the Whispering Hills subdivision just west of the city of Lowell.

The program was established with the goal of preserving 25,000 of the county's remaining 173,381 acres of farmland by 2013. Because of a lack of funding, 758 acres have been preserved through the program.

The question of funding has been controversial since the program's inception, with county leaders saying it should be funded through foundation grants and other private sources. Even people like Algoma Township Supervisor Dennis Hoemke whose board also endorsed county funding concede certain economic realities.

"Do we expect things are going to happen immediately? No," Hoemke said. "Money is tight right now and we understand that, but if money becomes available, we'd hope the county would be able to find a way to participate in that program."

Besides Lowell and Algoma, Grattan, Oakfield and Vergennes townships also have endorsed county funding as has Ada Township's Open Space Committee. Other township leaders like incoming Cascade Township Supervisor Rob Beahan, outgoing Alpine Township Supervisor Marta Brechting and Caledonia Township Supervisor Bryan Harrison also have endorsed county funding.

Bill Hirsch, who unseated 16-year county commission veteran Dave Morren in the Republican primary, said he believes he won on that issue alone and incoming county commissioner Jim Talen is also among the list of endorsers. But that still leaves proponents far short of a majority on the county board.

"If they're talking about general fund dollars, I don't think much has changed," said Morgan, R-Rockford. "I think maybe a study group would be put together. We have until 2010 for the next election cycle so that could be a way off."