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Awards Eligibility & Criteria

Awards are made in three population categories:

• Small: under 150,000
• Medium: between 150,000-500,000
• Large: over 500,000

Applications may be submitted for a county program that demonstrates leadership, innovation and excellence in land conservation and is a NACo member. To confirm NACo membership, please visit NACo's County Listing web page. Programs should illustrate foresight and vision in their objectives, employ creative funding strategies and demonstrate successful acquisition or plans for implementation. Counties working in partnership to create regional conservation programs and counties with programs utilizing land conservation for brownfields reclamation are also eligible for this award.

Examples could be a county program that excelled in:

• Presenting a strong vision for land conservation, promoting active public involvement and bringing diverse interest groups (i.e. business and environmental groups) together to support a conservation program.
• Leveraging county funds with private, state, and federal funding to further land conservation goals.
• Creating partnerships with multiple jurisdictions or cooperating with other local governments in carrying out a regional conservation vision.
• Employing an unusual funding source or finding a novel way to pay for land conservation.
• Utilizing land conservation to shape patterns of development and achieve smart growth goals.
• Combining land conservation with brownfields reclamation, watershed management and protection (including flood control; drinking water, wetlands and other water quality protection as well as stormwater management and nonpoint source pollution prevention), wetlands protection, economic development, growth management and other public goals.
• Generating community support and awareness for the land conservation program.

Programs for on-going park maintenance and stewardship are not eligible for this award. This program differs from the National Association of County Parks and Recreation Official's (NACPRO) Award Program in that the focus here is on the visioning, funding, and new acquisition or expansion of parks and conservation lands.

Updated 8/2008