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4 <br /> Attachment 1 <br /> Orange County <br /> Lands Legacy Program <br /> Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation <br /> Orange County's Lands Legacy Program was created by a Board of County Commissioners <br /> resolution on April 4, 2000. The purpose and mission of the program is to work with willing <br /> landowners and other partners to protect and conserve the county's most important natural and <br /> cultural resource lands before they are damaged or destroyed. The program is administered by <br /> the Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation(DEAPR). <br /> Through Lands Legacy, the County has completed projects in all seven townships. That success <br /> was achieved with the help of many partners, including dozens of landowners interested in <br /> conserving their land through the granting of permanent conservation easements. Other key <br /> partners included Triangle Land Conservancy, Eno River Association, OWASA, Duke <br /> University, and other local governments. The County has also partnered with state and federal <br /> agencies that awarded over $6.1 million in grants for park acquisition/construction and for <br /> conserving farms and open space. <br /> Over the first 24 years of Lands Legacy, Orange County acquired land for eight new parks, <br /> preserved all or portions of 28 active farms (2,329 acres), and conserved over 1,500 acres of <br /> natural open space in the Eno River, Cane Creek, Little River, and New Hope Creek watersheds <br /> upstream of public water supply intakes. A list of completed projects is attached. <br /> An evolving focus for the program <br /> Lands Legacy was established to protect the following types of land: <br /> • Parkland and public open space <br /> • Natural areas and wildlife habitat(including prime forests) <br /> • Riparian buffers (especially in public water supply watersheds) <br /> • Prime farmland <br /> • Historic and cultural sites <br /> During the first few years Lands Legacy focused on parkland acquisition, and then shifted its <br /> focus to farmland preservation, responding to farmer interests and grants for purchasing <br /> conservation easements. More recently, the program has worked to conserve land along rivers <br /> and streamsthereby helping to protect our public water supplies and securing areas for low- <br /> impact recreation. <br /> The cost of conservation <br /> Orange County's land conservation over <br /> the past 24 years cost the County less than <br /> 1% of the County's budget over that same <br /> period. Those funds went toward the <br /> direct conservation of 3,960 acres by the <br /> County,plus an over 1,500 acres acquired <br /> by the State for Eno River State Park, for <br /> the portion of Little River Park located in <br /> Durham County, and for other local , - ; <br /> conservation easement projects. 0-1 <br />