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printer - friendly story Page 1 of 2 e ' Friday , July 25 , 2003 12 : OOAM EDT bservw GreenPrint plan gains momentum By RICHARD STRADLING , Staff Writer Building a regional system of parks , trails and nature preserves in the Triangle will take 25 years or more , but planners say they are winning public support for a blueprint they hope will guide land preservation efforts for years to come . Last year , scientists , planners and conservationists released a report they called a " GreenPrint , " identifying natural areas worth preserving in the Triangle. The GreenPrint also highlights possible trails and greenways that people and wildlife could use to get from one oasis to another . Today , they are releasing a project update , highlighting efforts to win public support . "We really have created a shared vision of a regional network that ought to be protected as the region grows , " said Ben Hitchings , a planner with the Triangle J Council of Governments . The report can be found on the Web at www , trianglegreenprint . org . Begun nearly three years ago , the GreenPrint is a joint effort of the council of governments , the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Triangle Land Conservancy , a private land preservation group . County commissioners in Chatham , Durham , Johnston , Lee , Orange and Wake counties have endorsed the GreenPrint and pledged to work toward a network of open space . Planners are creating a system to track conservation projects in the Triangle to measure progress and remind everyone how each step fits into the overall scheme . The Triangle Land Conservancy estimates that 35 , 000 acres in the six - county region had been turned into homes , roads and businesses in the 2 1 /2 years ending last July . In that time , about 6 , 070 acres were protected from development . The conservancy already has benefit ed from the GreenPrint , said conservancy associate director Lorelei Costa . Through the effort , the group learned that one of the largest roadless areas left in the Triangle borders Marks Creek in southeast Wake County , an area the conservancy has targeted for preservation . Costa said the GreenPrint also draws attention to important but vulnerable natural places , such as the swampy plain along the Neuse River southeast of Smithfield . " It generates buzz about lots of places people haven ' t heard of before , " she said . The GreenPrint lists more than 600 sites as good candidates for preservation but does not identify specific pieces of land . It includes maps that highlight general target areas , such as the Eno Wilderness tract just east of Hillsborough and Middle Creek valley in Johnston County . The project is the first of its kind in North Carolina , and state environmental officials hope other regions follow suit . The Z . Smith Reynolds Foundation of Winston - Salem contributed $ 35 , 000 to the process , while the Environmental Protection Agency chipped in $ 10 , 000 . Backers of the GreenPrint admit that governments and conservation groups don 't have nearly enough money to protect the places identified in the report . It' s a long -term effort , the way highways appear on planning maps decades in advance , said Carol Tingley , chief of planning for the state parks and recreation department . " The planning is the first step , " Tingley said . httn : //www . news - observer . com/news/v - print/story/2722342p - 2524416c . html 7/25 /2003