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GOAL 2: Conserve Na tural Areas, Farmland and <br />Other Important Open Space <br />Backiround /Rationale <br />In the Task Force discussions and community forums, a prominent issue has been protection of <br />natural areas and open space. Widespread support has been demonstrated for the importance of <br />protecting the most critical natural and cultural areas. Orange County took a significant step <br />forward to this end in January 1999, with the formation of an Environment and Resource <br />Conservation Department to oversee, implement, and coordinate goals for land protection and <br />resource conservation. As a part of this, the Department has prepared a Lands Legacy program to <br />preserve and protect the most important areas within the county. <br />Orange County and the four towns, working through this department and existing agencies such <br />as the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Eno River Association, have an opportunity to be the <br />catalyst in preserving the many critical natural and cultural places that exist in the county. In <br />regard to land conservation, the new Lands Legacy initiative should be fully funded to <br />implement land and development rights acquisition programs and other land conservation <br />strategies, working with the Town staffs to develop a Transfer of Development Rights program. <br />47 <br />