Georgia land conservation gets budget ax

Budget cuts have claimed one of the state’s most popular programs, protecting land from development.

In a memo to local governments sent Thursday, Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority Executive Director Chris Clark said the state will not distribute the $10 million for land conservation included in this year’s budget.

Gov. Sonny Perdue had originally budgeted $35 million for the Georgia Land Conservation Program, but the General Assembly whittled that to $10 million.

Now even that money is gone — at least until the economy turns around. About a dozen applications are on hold, said Curt Soper, the program’s director.

The state still has $4.5 million available for grants left from last year’s budget, Soper said. And local governments and others can still apply for low-interest loans to buy land or buy conservation easements. The loan fund has $45 million in it.

Soper said the interest charged will be lowered to attract more applicants.

“There are better federal and state tax incentives for folks to donate conservation easements. That’s the good news,” Soper said. “The bad news is there are some important conservation projects that won’t get done, and opportunities lost.”

Those lost opportunities include buying wildlife management areas in the North Georgia mountains that are currently leased by the state. The hope had been — and remains — to buy those as funds come available.

Land conservation has been a top priority for Perdue. Since he took office in 2003, the state has spent $61 million and leveraged another $250 million in federal, local and private donations to protect 64,000 acres of green space, parks and wildlife management areas.