Agenda - 08-31-2006-2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Attachment 4 as An alternative to this substantial and structural change is creation of a partnership with existing land trusts that have charters requiring the perpetual protection of lands. In this scenario, the County might partner with (depending on the area of the County) an organization such as Triangle Land Conservancy, the Eno River Association or the Conservation Trust for additional land protection through a granted conservation easement on lands acquired and owned by the County for Lands Legacy. The Board may recall that such an arrangement has been used with the Town of Carrboro for the County's participation in the Adams Tract, and the concept of an additional -party easement holder is also proposed for the jointly -held open space portions of the Greene Tract. A less - formal measure that could also be explored is that of registering or enrolling lands in the County's Lands Legacy Program, to provide a special status and recognition. This is similar to an approach taken by the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, which encourages landowners to "register" their lands with the program, recognizing their existence and importance, without a more formal protection measure that may be accomplished at a later date. Recommendation Since it has been six years since this topic was researched, staff proposes to contact these other local government land trusts (and any new ones formed) and examine their status, successes and obstacles. In addition, staff would explore the partnership option with existing land trusts, and discuss with the N.C. Natural Heritage Program the successes and challenges in their program of registering lands. All of this information would be incorporated into the report, which may include options for long -term mechanisms. This report could be prepared and presented prior to the end of calendar year 2006, (assuming no other new substantive research assignments).