Agenda 04-16-24; 6-a - Lands Legacy Action Plan for 2024-2027

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2 • the Agricultural Preservation Board (for farmland preservation); • the Historic Preservation Commission (for historic/cultural resources); and • the Parks and Recreation Council (for parklands, open space/trails, specifically the Mountains to Sea trail). This Action Plan comes at a time when staff is mindful of several new developments that will affect the County's land conservation actions and decisions: • An improving regional economy — There was an upturn following the Great Recession (2008-2012), and the COVID Pandemic (2020-2023) provides more conservation opportunities, but has also resulted in higher land values. • Increased competition for State and Federal funding —Although state and federal budgets include funding for land conservation, the amount of grant funds available to local governments from those state and federal trust funds has been reduced significantly, along with great competition across the state. Recent federal funding related to the Infrastructure Plan and other legislative programs may improve these programs significantly. • Eno-New Hope Landscape Conservation Plan —This plan, presented to the Board at the March 19, 2024 Business meeting, provides important new data to help guide conservation connectivity. • Priorities in the adopted 2030 Parks and Recreation Master Plan — The Action Plan works to complete the priorities identified in this plan, such as the Mountains to Sea Trail. • County funding for conservation easements — The BOCC approved a biennial allocation of $500,000 in the Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for conservation easement purchases. These funds will leverage outside funds from various sources. Most of the priority focus areas in the 2024-2027 Action Plan are multi-year projects some of which are continued from previous Action Plans. This has often been the case in prior Action Plans, as many of projects take considerable time to come to fruition. A few potential new projects are offered for the Board's consideration. Details of each are provided on pages 4-5 of the Action Plan. Among the priorities in this three-year plan are: • Wildlife and Natural Connection Corridors (especially those outlined in Eno-New Hope Landscape Conservation Plan) • Upper Eno and Jordan Lake Headwaters Preserves • Farmland Conservation Easements • Historic and Cultural Landmarks (and historic easements) • Mountains-to-Sea Trail • Future Bingham Township Park FINANCIAL IMPACT: Most of the funds available for this new three-year Action Plan are existing funds from prior appropriations of the Board. The Lands Legacy Fund (with a current available unencumbered balance of approximately $1.6 million) is from these prior appropriations. In addition, the Board allocated $500,000 on a biennial basis for the Conservation Easement Fund as part of the adopted CIP (with a current unencumbered balance of approximately $1.8 million). The balances above take into consideration projects which are in the process for approval but have not yet received final approval or closed Over $6.1 million in grant and partner funds has been received to date.