Orange County NC Website
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Draft 10/8/99 <br />programs of their own, working in partnership with existing land trusts and other <br />agencies. Several counties and cities have formed local government land trusts,. <br />-such as Davis, California; Dane County, Wisconsin; Boulder, Colorado; and Anne <br />Arundel County, Maryland. Some of these .programs were outlined in the 1996 <br />Preservation as a Function of Local Government report. <br />In Orange County, it is significant to recognize that while some of our important <br />resources have been protected through state parks and privately- held research <br />forests, many natural and cultural resources have also been lost. <br />The amount of acreage in farmland in he County has decreased from .187,000 in <br />-1957, to 67,000 in 1997. The County may have lost as much as 25% of its prime <br />forestland in the last 20 years, based on the new Triangle land .Conservancy <br />.report "Rating lands by their Wildlife Value - A landscape with Wildlife, Part 2," <br />and many other. areas have become fragmented and unable to accommodate <br />diverse species. The `County is projected to have a deficit of 645 acres of <br />parkland in the year 2000, and a 1,265-acre deficit in 2025. And finally,.- many <br />important archaeological sites may be lost. annually due. to lack of information <br />and relevant data.on their location. <br />County citizens.. have continually recognized the importance of protecting our <br />most critical resources. This was most recently reflected in the Shaping Orange <br />County`s Future- visioning efforts, where protecting the environment .and open <br />- space was listed one of the top issues facing the County. The ability to prioritize <br />the most- important of these- resources for protection was also continually noted, <br />-both in the 1993- Rural. Character Study and in Shaping Orange County's Future. <br />It is for these reasons that-the County is considering its first-ever land acquisition <br />program, a draft Qf which is contained herein. The program as outlined in this <br />document would be of a voluntary nature. While not all resources can or should <br />be protected by. the public sector, a focused program on identifying the most <br />critical of these areas will. allow the County to take steps to begin acquiring areas <br />that are in the public interest to protect. <br />4 <br />