County Receives Second Award for Open Space Program

8/21/2006

Land trusts from across the state will present the Wake County Board of Commissioners with one of their most prestigious awards at Monday’s Commissioners’ meeting. North Carolina’s coalition of 24 local and regional land trusts will honor the County with the “Local Government Conservationist of the Year” award for its outstanding commitment to protecting land and water resources in North Carolina.

The Conservationist of the Year award will headline an Open Space Celebration and progress report to be received by County Commissioners on Monday.

The award is given each year to a local government in the state to recognize its partnership with land trusts to protect land, clean drinking water and air quality in North Carolina. Wake County was recognized for its bold visionary leadership in open space planning and conservation funding.

"We are very appreciative of this recognition, and all of us involved in open space preservation in the County acknowledge that we still have a long way to go and a short time to accomplish our goal of preserving 30 percent of the open space in Wake County," said Sig Hutchinson, chair of the Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee. "Recognizing that we are losing open space at a rate of one acre an hour and that growth and economic development is a good thing, we want to preserve as much as we can, as quickly as we can, before it is gone forever."

In May of this year, the National Association of Counties and the Trust for Public Land recognized Wake County for its outstanding open space program. Now, the Conservation Trust of North Carolina has joined the chorus by adding this award.

This year alone, the County has acquired 660.82acres at a total cost of $13.6 million; however, because of matching funds from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and municipalities, only $10 million in Open Space Bond funds have been used. Acquisitions this year include a new park in Apex, land in Cary and Wake Forest, a stream corridor acquisition along the Neuse River, and land in the Mark's Creek area near Wendell and Knightdale.

Kevin Brice, executive director of the Triangle Land Conservancy, nominated the County for the award.

“Wake County's commissioners and conservation staff are leaders in open space protection, and their leadership is collaborative and inclusive,” said Brice. “They reached out to the County's municipalities and nonprofit conservation groups to define protection priorities, and the County is invested in the entire process – from planning to partnerships to funding.”

Voters overwhelmingly backed two open space bonds, totaling $41 million, in 2000 and 2004. The County launched its open space protection program with the first bond in November 2000, adding an open space component to the county parks and recreation department, creating a plan for conservation, and providing grants to each of the County’s 12 municipalities for open space plans. In 2002, the County adopted the Wake County Consolidated Open Space Plan, an ambitious plan that seeks to preserve 30 percent of the county’s area for open space and create interconnected greenways, trails, and parks to link municipalities in the county to each other and with others outside the county’s borders.

Wake County is also using bond money to identify four critical watersheds in the County and is putting a priority on purchasing land that protects sensitive drinking-water sources. The County has funded proposals from all 12 of its municipalities as well as conservation organizations such as the Triangle Land Conservancy. To date, the County has worked with its partners to protect more than 2,700 acres using $24 million from the Open Space Bond Program and has leveraged an additional $22 million in conservation funding from other sources.

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