Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 06/17/2008

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TRUST r~ PU'BLlC LAND mm RAMSEY CITY MINNESOTA III ' Feasibility Study Introduction The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Founded in 1972, TPL has worked with willing landowners, community groups, and national, state, and local agencies to protect more than 2.5 million acres across the country with a fair market value of more than $5 billion. In Minnesota TPL has protected over 87,000 acres with a fair market value of approximately $88 million. Operating in Minnesota since 1990, TPL has partnered with private landowners, communities and government agencies to protect special places throughout the state. From 1997 to 1999, TPL provided technical assistance on conservation finance options and public support for conservation on the Green Corridor Project, with Washington County, 1000 Friends of Minnesota, Minnesota Land Trust and other organizations as partners. TPL. assisted the City of Woodbury with several lake shore and park projects and helped protect the St. Croix Greenway in May Township. In 2006 TPL worked in Chis ago County, just an hour's drive from the Twin Cities, where there is rapid growth and development pressures that threaten existing open spaces areas. TPL help protect 670 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat. The property is managed as a new Wildlife and Aquatic Management Area by the Minnesota DNR and provides access for wildlife viewing, hunting, canoeing, and fishing. To help public agencies and community groups conserve land, TPL also assists communities in identifying and securing public financing for conservation and recreation land acquisition. TPL's Conservation Finance Program offers technical assistance to elected officials, public agencies and community groups to design, pass, and implement public furtding measures that reflect popular priorities. In Minnesota, since 1996, voters have passed 17 local measures and one statewide funding measure, creating more than $313 million in new funding for land conservation. In 2006 and 2000, TPL supported bond measures in the cities of Andover and Blaine, both located in Anoka County. See Appendix A for a list of Land Conservation Ballot Measures in Minnesota. So far in 2008 there have been twenty land conservation ballot measures to go before voters in various counties and municipalities across the country. Of those, fourteen have passed, a 70 percent passage rate. In addition, the average level of support has also been at 70 percent. Even better, on April 22, 2008, Buckingham Township, P A passed a $20 million bond for open space with 82 percent support. While the total number of measures in which to base our analysis is relatively small for 2008, statistics at this point in time show that despite the slowing economy voters have not been largely affected at the ballot box when it comes to land conservation. 2