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Monday
the Wake County Board of Commissioners
was honored with the Local Government
Conservationist of the Year award by the
state’s coalition of 24 local and
regional land trusts.
The award is given each year
to recognize a local government’s
partnership with land trusts to protect
land, clean drinking water and air
quality. Wake was chosen because of its
leadership in open space planning and
conservation funding from the two open
space bonds, a total of $41 million,
voters approved in 2000 and 2004.
This year, the county has
acquired 1,100 acres that cost $7
million, but because of matching funds
from the Clean Water Management Trust
Fund and county towns, only $3.5 million
in the bond funds has been used.
One of those acquisitions is
the Clinebelle tract, wooded land on the
north side of the Neuse River, which
Wake Forest is buying with the help of
the county and the CWMTF. The county and
town will each pay $131,860 while the
CWMTF will pay $417,900 to make up the
rest of the $681,620 purchase price. It
was originally priced at $717,900, but
Wake Forest Parks and Recreation
Director Susan Simpson said a survey
showed the tract contained less than
thought, 68.1 acres, which lowered the
price.
The county’s Open Space Bond
funds have also substantially helped in
the purchase of the Joyner Park land and
the future park land on Forestville Road
at the Heritage High School site.
Chris Snow, the county’s
Parks, Recreation and Open Space
director, said bond funds made up $1.5
million of the $4.1 million purchase
price, and the bonds paid half of the
$2.2 million for the school park site.
“We’ve definitely got our
share,” Simpson said, “close to two
point seven million. We’ve been very
fortunate.”
The need for the county to
buy open space and park land is urgent.
Snow said development is
paving over and building on 27 acres a
day, more than an acre an hour.
“We’ve only got another five
to ten years to make a difference,” he
said. “Past that, land is going to be so
expensive and the parcels will be so
small” it will be difficult for the
county to find or buy land.
“The goal is to move
quickly,” Snow said.
The program began in 2000
with the passage of the first bond
issue. The county added an open space
component to the parks and recreation
department, created a conservation plan
and provided grants to the 12
municipalities for open space plans. In
2002, the county adopted the
Consolidated Open Space Plan that aims
to preserve 30 percent of Wake’s area
for open space and create interconnected
greenways, trails and parks to link the
county towns and cities together and
with others in other counties.
Wake has identified nine
critical watersheds, and its priority is
purchasing land to protect sensitive
drinking-water sources.
To date, the county and its
partners have protected more than 2,400
acres and used $15 million of the 2000
bonds while leveraging an additional $17
million from other sources.
Monday’s award was the
second this year for the open space
program. In May the National Association
of Counties and the Trust for Public
Land recognized Wake For its outstanding
open space program. |
