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i riangle Wake County Briefs Open Space Report Calls for GreenPrint ® pen Space Funds in Demand A UNIQUE REGIONAL PLANNING and Natural Resources Kim DOUGLASS IS FINDING THAT THE PROJECT HAS BEEN SPURRED by a (NCDENR ) . DEMAND for open space funding is exceeding recently released report that assess - NCDENR hopes to use the supply . es the status of green infrastructure Triangle GreenPrint as a model in the Triangle . open space plan for other regions In its first cycle , the county ' s Open Space State of Open Space 2000 , across the state as part of the 10 - Grants Program received four applications authored b . George Hess , Kate totaling more than $ 900 , 000 in requests . Y g year Million Acres Initiative . Dixon and Mary Woltz of the " One of the key principles of That 's $ 50 , 000 more than the $ 850 , 000 the Triangle Land Conservancy the Million Acres Initiative is local program has available for grants this year , ( TLC ) , announces that 146 , 068 and regional input in determining according to Douglass , the county ' s Open acres of open space have been pro- priorities . The state ' s role in the Space Planner . tected in the Triangle , including planning process is to ensure that Funding could be tighter next year. As of 24 , 527 acres of water in Falls and there is some consistency in plan - June 15 , the county has budgeted $ 500 , 000 Jordan lakes . Two - thirds of pro - ning across the state so that the for the grant program for FY 2000 -01 . tected land is in Wake and regional plans can be used togeth- But open space advocates and prospective Chatham counties , and the US er , " says Carol Tingley , Chief of grantees have reason for hope . Army Corps of Engineers owns Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Herb Council suggested the more than half of it , for the Division of Parks and county consider bringing a $ 10 to $ 15 mil - State of Open Space 2000 rattles Recreation, NCDENR. lion open space bond referendum to voters off many more statistics as it To create the GreenPrint the this November . County staff will research inventories open space in the partnership hopes to utilize char- the idea over the next month . Triangle and discusses public and rettes , or intensive design work - For more information contact Kim private efforts to preserve more . It shops , for the planning process , Douglass at 919 - 856 - 6555 . The second examines the land -use changes in holding separate charrettes for the region over the past ten years each identified open space func - round of open space grant applications are and inventories the land that has tion ( e . g. , water quality protection , due November 15 . been protected . The report also wildlife habitat , recreation , and Cary ® pen Space Initiative makes two key recommendations agriculture ) . Each charrette would at the end , including the creation produce a map or data layer show- Underway of a regional open space plan , or ing the most important open WITH A $ 12 . 5 MILLION IMPETUS from GreenPrint. spaces to protect in order to fulfill town financial reserves , Cary Initiative 2000 The report explains the need for each separate function. In the end , a regional open space plan to tie these maps would be overlaid , thus is well on its way. together the plans of individual establishing priority areas for pro - The town's ambitious open space program jurisdictions . " If local efforts are tection . The GreenPrint would includes a first phase of " ecological assess - not coordinated , " says the report , also include a gap analysis to com - ment" to rank and prioritize the most signifi - " the likely result will be a system of pare the priority areas with existing cant open spaces within Cary ' s jurisdiction, fragmented , disconnected open or planned protected areas to find to be completed by January 2001 . Emphasis spaces that do not function very the gaps in between . will be placed on Cary 's western reaches , i . e . well . " The partnership is still in the the Jordan Lake Basin , where most of the " By linking open spaces and most preliminary stages of plan - town's farm and forestlands remain. greenways across jurisdictional ning, but they hope to find addi - The next step is landowner contact and boundaries , we magnify their bene - tional partners this summer to land acquisition, with the goal of creating an fits exponentially , " says Ben cosponsor the charrettes . For more interconnected system of open spaces to link Hitchings , Senior Planner of the information about the GreenPrint, to town greenways . The town will be seeking Triangle J Council of or to obtain a copy of State of Open public input on where to preserve land for Governments ( TJCOG ) . TJCOG Space 2000 , contact Lorelei Costa the community. and TLC have partnered on the at 919 - 833 -3662 . For more information contact Senior j GreenPrint proect , along with the Planner Don Belk at 919 -469 - 4084 . NC Department of Environment 2