RES-2005-095 Resolution - Land for Tomorrow

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~1 ~S .~ ao~~ a 4 ~ ~ z -D 5 - aoos' ~~ ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE N.C. LAND FOR TOMORROW INITIATIVE FOR OPEN SPACE AND LAND CONSERVATION WHEREAS, Orange County, through its award-winning Lands Legacy Program, is committed to protecting lands critical to the future of North Carolina's drinking water, economy, and quality of life, and WHEREAS, the. Lands Legacy Program has protected over 1,600 acres of natural and cultural resource lands in Orange County to date, and WHEREAS, North Carolina is losing more than 100,000 acres of those special places to population pressures each year and the state's population is expected to grow by 50 percent in the next 25 years, and ; WHEREAS, funding sources for land protection efforts in North Carolina have lacked sufficient funding to protect stream banks and floodplains, legacy forests, prime farmlands, local parks and recreation, state parks, game lands, natural, scenic and historic places, and WHEREAS, there is no second chance to protect North Carolina's great natural resources with costs to do so increasing in the future, and WHEREAS, additional state funding will leverage twice as much funding from federal, private and local sources and enable local land trusts and programs like Lands Legacy to do much more in terms of land conservation; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners urges the 2006 General Assembly to enact legislation authorizing the "Land for Tomorrow" bond referendum to increase conservation spending in North Carolina by $200 million per year. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board asks that Orange County be listed as a partner in the Land for Tomorrow initiative, and that staff explore the mechanisms by which the Lands Legacy Program and Land for Tomorrow can mutually benefit from their common goals. This the 5th day of December, 2005. Orange Co~nty Bda~of Col~nmissioners