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2007 Conservation Awards Winners

Map showing 2007 Awards Winners

Small Category

Pitkin County, CO
Pitkin County Open Space and Trails

Pitkin County is a rural, mountainous region and home to the resort communities of Aspen and Snowmass. Boasting some of the highest real estate prices in the country, development pressures are extreme, making land conservation both costly and daunting.

Pitkin County residents have not been deterred. In 1990, voters passed a ballot measure creating the Open Space and Trails (OST) program. Two subsequent ballot measures have extended a 3.75 mill property tax to 2020, and a total of $38 million in General Obligation bonding authority has been authorized. Grants and partnerships have leveraged significant funds for the program ($.43 for every OST dollar spent). To date, Pitkin County has preserved 14,000 acres of farmland, wildlife habitat, open space, recreational assets, and trails.

The county's success in preserving undeveloped land can be attributed to its strong partnerships with myriad public and private entities, a spectrum of conservation tools, and long-standing relationships of trust with local landowners.

Medium Category

Sonoma County, CA
Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District

In the late 1980s, Bay Area cities began to merge, losing their individuality and unique character. Fear of this and concern for significant growth patterns led Sonoma County to support an Open Space Element in the update of the County General Plan in 1989. That Open Space Element recommended the creation of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and the voters agreed a few months later.

In 1990, Sonoma County voters authorized a quarter-cent sales tax (for a 20-year period) to fund and create the District, one of the first sales tax-funded open space programs in the country to focus on the preservation of agricultural properties and open space lands. The District has spent $212 million to protect more than 70,000 acres of farmland, open space, wildlife habitat, and recreational lands. The Sonoma County District has leveraged voter-approved funding with an additional $26 million in local, state, federal, and private funds. In addition, the District has received generous endowments from landowners that total over $1.6 million. District staff has saved some $61.5 million in discounted purchase prices.

In November 2006, 75% of the voters overwhelmingly approved an extension of the sales tax through 2031.

One particularly notable achievement the District claimed in 2005 was a partnership with The Trust for Public Land, State Coastal Conservancy and State Parks to protect the 3,373 acre Willow Creek property as an addition to Sonoma Coast State Beach, the third most-visited State Park unit in California. The District also recently completed a yearlong community process to update its Acquisition Plan, "Connecting Communities and the Land." This guiding document responds to changes in the community over time and has an additional focus, that of acquiring lands that connect urban dwellers to open spaces around them.

Large Category

Lake County, IL
The Lake County Forest Preserve District

Lake County is home to more endangered and threatened species than any other county in Illinois. It's also home to a diverse and growing population of nearly 700,000 people, including some of the most rapidly expanding communities in both the Chicago region and also the nation.

Since 1999, Lake County voters and the elected, 23-member Lake County Board of Forest Preserves Commissioners have made commitments to protecting open space and wildlife corridors threatened by this growth. Voters have approved three referenda: two bond measures generating $140 million for acquiring, maintaining, and improving Preserves; and an additional tax increase that generates $3 million annually for managing Preserves. In 2005, the commissioners approved another $85 million in bonds (non-referendum) over the following four-to-five years to purchase an additional 1,400 acres. The Lake County Forest Preserve District has leveraged voter-approved funds with over $20 million in state, federal, and private grants and donations.

Since 1999, the Lake County Forest Preserve District has protected an additional 5,000 acres of land (bringing the total to 25,300 acres), opened 12 entirely new preserves, expanded 17 existing preserves, and reached a total of 125 miles of trails. Each year, some 2.5 million visits occur on preserve lands, allowing the public to learn about nature, interact with wildlife, and participate in outdoor recreation. The District has strong partnerships, thousands of volunteers and considerable community involvement in all facets of its mission.

Plans also call for a five-year Capital Improvement Program of nearly $50 million.

In 1999, the Lake County Forest Preserve District was voted National Gold Medal Winner by the National Recreation and Park Association as the best park, conservation, and recreation agency of its kind in the nation.

Posted 3/2007