For Cumberland County, protecting farmland has been a costly proposition.

Roughly $30 million in county and state money has been invested since 1989 to buy development easements for more than 13,000 acres of pastures and crop land.

So county officials are excited about the prospect of getting a 40-acre plot in Middlesex Twp. for free.

Larry Claycomb and his wife, Ann, have offered to grant the county a no-cost easement for their property off North Middlesex Road along the Conodoguinet Creek.

The county commissioners have given the nod to finalize the deal, which marks the first donation to Cumberland's Agricultural Land Preservation Program.

Larry Claycomb declined to discuss the offer, saying he wants to wait until the deal is consummated.

That will take a few months, said Stephanie Williams, the county's open-space coordinator.

An appraisal hasn't been done on the value of the easement for the Claycomb property, she said, but it likely will come in at $3,500 to $4,500 an acre.

The commissioners had to create a special program to accept donations of land for preservation this year because the regular program doesn't allow that, nor does it permit the purchase of easements for less than 50 acres.

The county has $1.3 million available to buy easements this year, and 40 or so properties are on the waiting list. It can take years for an easement purchase to be completed.

Under the donation program, prospects must contain at least 35 acres, be in agricultural security areas, be zoned for agricultural use and have prime soil.

At least half the property must be in agricultural production.

Williams had estimated that, with the necessary paper work and appraisals, accepting a "free" parcel will cost the county about $5,000.

No other donations are pending, she said.

"At this point, it doesn't look like there's anything else imminent," Williams said. "We're hoping that once this one is completed, it will interest other landowners."