Many isolated residential developments are difficult to provide with public services. It is true that such subdivision con increase property tax revenues. However, they can be a fiscal drain on the County when enough scattered development has taken place to require such services as road improvement, snow removal, schools, waste disposal, police and fire protection. The County's agricultural land is located on the Sacramento Valley floor and in the low foothills of the Sierra Nevada. These are the areas of alluvial deposits and deep permeable soils that are indicated as Classes 1 to 4 on the Soils Map.
Butte County is a leader in acreage devoted to rice, nuts, fruit and olives.
Another agricultural use requiring extensive open space is the raising of cattle, sheep and goats. The income received by producers is distributed to suppliers of goods and services and thereby multiplies the economic importance of agriculture. Agricultural land uses also produce far more in tax revenues than they require in local government expenditures. The irreversible conversion of agricultural land to urban use threatens both the production of food and income from agriculture. Much of the growth of the cities in the County has been at the expense of the productive land which economically supports those same cities.