HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-15-2024; 4-b - Proclamation Recognizing 25 Years of Orange County Conservation Initiatives - Great Trails State Day 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: October 15, 2024
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-b
SUBJECT: Proclamation Recognizing 25 Years of Orange County Conservation Initiatives /
Great Trails State Day
DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks
and Recreation (DEAPR)
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Proclamation David Stancil, 919-245-2522
Flyer for October 19, 2024 Event Christian Hirni, 919-245-2514
PURPOSE: To approve a proclamation recognizing the 25t" anniversary of implementation of a
series of conservation initiatives by Orange County, including the creation of the (then)
Environment and Resource Conservation Department and the Lands Legacy Program; as well as
the celebration of Great Trails State Day on October 19, 2024.
BACKGROUND: Based on a request by former Commissioner Alice Gordon at the Board's May
21, 2024 Business meeting, staff has worked to develop a commemoration of twenty-five (25)
years of the following actions from 1998/99:
• Creation of an environmental department to focus on natural and cultural resource
conservation and preservation initiatives and programs. The department was officially
approved in June 1998 and established on January 4, 1999. (The Orange Soil and Water
Conservation District became part of this agency in 2006, and it became the Department
of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation in April 2010); and
• A program to protect and conserve the most important natural and cultural resource lands
as well as future parks and public open space lands was also approved in concept in 1999
and implemented as the Lands Legacy Program on April 4, 2000.
In addition to these commemorations, Orange County - as a member of the Great Trails State
Coalition - will be celebrating Great Trails State Day on Saturday, October 19, 2024.
Today, twenty-five (25) years after creation, the Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks
and Recreation is comprised of thirty-five (35) full-time staff which address conservation,
preservation, and the provision of parks, open space and trails, and recreational opportunities for
County residents. The Department also serves as staff support to four (4) volunteer advisory
boards (the Commission for the Environment, the Parks and Recreation Council, the Agricultural
Preservation Board, and the Historic Preservation Commission) and provides lead administrative
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support to the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group and other ad hoc or special project
committees related to resource conservation, agriculture, parks and recreation.
Since the Lands Legacy Program was established on April 4, 2000, this program continues to
work to protect the County's most critical natural and cultural resources through a variety of
voluntary means and working with willing landowners and other conservation partners. Since its
creation, Orange County has acquired land for eight (8) public parks and nature preserves, and
secured forty-six (46) conservation easements (including twenty-eight (28) active farms) for a
current total of 2,973 acres of farmland and open space in the Eno River, Cane Creek, Little River,
and New Hope Creek watersheds. Over that same period the County helped other conservation
partners protect an additional 1,338 acres of sensitive resource lands in Orange County. During
this time over $6 million in grant funds have been leveraged for these purposes.
October 19, 2024 is also Great Trails State Day in North Carolina. As a member of the Great
Trails State Coalition, Orange County will join many other jurisdictions and thousands of others
on this day in celebrating North Carolina's amazing and diverse trail networks that span from the
mountains to the coast.
Given the synergy between these events and activities, it was decided to combine both the 25tn
anniversary recognition with Great Trails State Day for a commemorative event on October 19,
2024. The celebration will be held at the Blackwood Farm Park picnic shelter at 10:00 am, and
will feature guided hikes, information about conservation successes and ways to get involved,
and other games and activities.
A proclamation recognizing this history and the October 19, 2024 celebration is attached for Board
consideration.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with approval of the proclamation.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: This item supports:
• GOAL 1: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE ACTION
OBJECTIVE 4. Incentivize and promote sustainable agriculture and local food systems
development through supportive policy, funding, farmland protection and educational
outreach.
OBJECTIVE 5. Review land use policies to promote and connect Town, County and private
trails and open spaces.
OBJECTIVE 6. Protect water supply / watersheds.
OBJECTIVE 7. Conserve and protect high priority open space, including Natural Heritage
sites, nature preserves, watershed riparian buffers, and prime/threatened farmland.
• GOAL 2: HEALTHY COMMUNITY
OBJECTIVE 7. Invest in services and programs that improve the health and quality of life
of the community (e.g., recreation and public open spaces, arts, etc.)
• GOAL 6: DIVERSE AND VIBRANT ECONOMY
OBJECTIVE 4. Provide resources to small, creative, and agro-businesses that add
character and quality of life to our community to attract employers, employees and visitors.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve and authorize the
Chair to sign the proclamation for the 25t" anniversary of conservation initiatives and Great Trails
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State Day, and commend the celebration to the public of Orange County — thanking County
residents for their invaluable support in creating this history and commemoration.
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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROCLAMATION
Recognition of 25 Years of Conservation Initiatives by County
Government / Great Trails State Day 2024
WHEREAS, the year 2024 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the approval and
formation of conservation initiatives including the creation of the County's Environment
and Resource Conservation Department (now the Department of Environment,
Agriculture, Parks, and Recreation), and creation of a program for conservation and
protection of the County's most important natural and cultural resource lands (which
became the Lands Legacy Program); and
WHEREAS, the new department was tasked with the purposes of 1) Overseeing,
implementing, and coordinating County goals for environmental protection and resource
conservation; 2) Developing and implementing a program for the acquisition and
management of land for resource conservation; 3) Integrating current and future natural
and cultural resource data into a Comprehensive Resource Database; 4) Providing staff
support to Commissions and Boards; and 5) Working collaboratively with other
departments and agencies on resource conservation; and
WHEREAS, the department was staffed with existing and new positions with expertise in
environmental planning, landscape architecture and park design, land conservation,
water resource conservation, and cultural resource conservation (historic and agricultural
preservation); and
WHEREAS, the subsequent development of the Lands Legacy Program was created and
approved as a comprehensive initiative in April 2000, implementing the goal of a program
working with willing landowners for the conservation, acquisition and management of
important lands for natural and cultural resources; and
WHEREAS, the Lands Legacy Program has since been successful in the conservation
of approximately 1,114 acres for eight current or future parks, and holds conservation
easements on approximately 2,973 acres, with over 2,300 of these acres protecting active
farms; and
WHEREAS, in these 25 years, the Lands Legacy Program has received over $6.1 million
dollars in federal and state match grant funds aiding in the acquisition of the above,
working with a variety of conservation partners and willing landowners; and
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WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina will celebrate Great Trails State Day on October
19, 2024, with Orange County as a signatory partner in this initiative that ties closely to
the County's conservation initiatives; and
WHEREAS, the County plans to celebrate the 25t" anniversary of these initiatives in
conjunction with Great Trails State Day on October 19, 2024 at Blackwood Farm Park;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of
Commissioners commends the celebration of 25 years of conservation initiatives, and
declares October 19, 2024 to be Great Trails State Day in Orange County.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board recognizes the foresight and action of the
1999 Orange County Board of Commissioners and those involved in the creation of these
efforts 25 years ago to help protect our most important natural and cultural resource lands,
which continue to bear fruit to this day.
This the 15t" Day of October, 2024.
Jamezetta Bedford, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners
ATTEST:
Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board
Celebrating the orange County
Conservation Initiatives 25th Anniversary
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YOU RE INVITEDE
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Bring your own picnic and participate in lawn games and
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Blackwood Farm
ORANGE COUNTY Department of Environment,
NORTH CAROLINA 4215 NC 86 Chapel