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DEL.ICIO.USWays to preserve our natural environment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the years, the state and the region have had several strategies to conserve open space and making metro Atlanta greener.
When Gov. Roy Barnes was in office, the state sought to preserve the land that was most threatened by sprawl and development. That meant that property in and around the Atlanta region was being permanently set aside for green space.
The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, working in concert with governments, foundations and the private sector, also embarked on an ambitious plan to protect the banks of the Chattahoochee River from Helen to Columbus.
In recent years, Gov. Sonny Perdue has emphasized protecting large acreages of land, primarily in outlying parts of the state.
At the same time, the city of Atlanta and TPL have invested in future park land around the Beltline. Also, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett counties have passed significant bond referendums to acquire green space and conserve land.
Plus, other efforts like the PATH Foundation, have been hard at work. PATH has been developing bicycle and pedestrian trails throughout the region, often working in concert with the counties that have passed bond referendums for green space.
Lastly, Paulding County — with help from the state, foundations and voters — has successfully acquired a major wildlife management area for permanent protection.
But the threats remain. Several wildlife management areas, which many believe is in public hands, actually are privately owned. At any time, they could be sold off for development.
Then, in the last few years, timber companies have sold thousands and thousands of acres of forests to development companies. All those tracts potentially could be converted from an attractive natural amenity to subdivisions and strip shopping centers.
And to make matters worse, the state has no source of dedicated funding to acquire and protect land from being developed.
Unlike our neighboring states that have large pots of dedicated funding, such as Florida, we rely on a modest appropriation of funds from the governor to support our state’s green space program. Given that those dollars are allocated on an annual basis, there is no guarantee Georgia will set aside money to preserve our natural environment.
The MillionMile Greenway is one response to the situation. The nonprofit is working to build grassroots efforts throughout the region and the state to develop interconnected greenways.
What should we do to conserve our natural environment?
I would love to hear from you….
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Comments
By Brian
July 14, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this
One critical thing we can do is to limit tax assessments on timber and committed greenspace. There are already tax breaks for preserving timber tracts, but more could be done, especially in fast growing communities where large landowners (individuals and institutions) are being forced to sell because of increasing property valuations.
Another policy change that needs to be made is at the estate tax level. When a large landowner passes away, his or her land — even if it is still being farmed or used as greenspace — is taxed at its “highest and best” use, i.e. subdivision or commercial development potential. This often forces the heirs to sell the land that they and the deceased had no interest in selling or seeing developed. This is also a particular challenge in areas on the fringe of growing cities.
Linear parks — like the MMG and other individual initiatives are also good solutions in growing areas. Adding linear parks on pipeline, power, rail and other easements is a no-brainer that is already occurring in many states and could in Georgia.
By Step Up Gold Domers
July 14, 2008 10:28 AM | Link to this
Good suggestion above by Brian.
It’s all about dedicated funding. Without that, we’ll always be playing catch-up. C’mon state rep’s and state senators. Use your noggin’s and come up with some dedicated funding. We owe ouwe children and their children.
By Not Your Green Anymore
July 14, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this
I just built 2 houses on 2 empty lots that I owned for 10 years in Atlanta. They were on the map of “hopeful” greenspace to be acquired by the city - too late! - sorry (NOT!). Nobody from the city bothered to contact me with a reasonable acquisition price in 10 years - not that I expected the poorly managed city government to do that!
By Maria Saporta
July 14, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this
Brian and Step Up Gold Domers.
Excellent suggestions. Let’s hope decision makers are listening. Even better, let’s hope decision makers will take action.
Thanks for reading the Business Insider blog.