SG-W:/ Smart non-growth

[Steve Bean <sbean@berginc.com>]

What John Engler would do if money was brains and greed was foresight:

NORTH CAROLINA PLANS LAND CONSERVATION ACTIONS

RALEIGH, North Carolina, May 3, 2000 (ENS) - North Carolina plans to 
connect 15,000 acres of conservation lands and link three state parks 
along the North Carolina-South Carolina border. At a ceremony last week, 
Governor Jim Hunt announced that 1,300 acres will be added to Crowders 
Mountain State Park later this year to help create the new Kings Mountain 
Corridor. Hunt also announced details of the state's Million Acres 
initiative, a plan to build public private partnerships to conserve one 
million acres of open space and farmland over the next 10 years to 
benefit North Carolina's environment and quality of life.

"We need to coordinate this effort with local governments, business 
leaders, developers and conservationists," Hunt said. "We'll protect our 
waters, from mountain streams to coastal sounds, and our wetlands, 
nature's own water treatment plants. We'll preserve the family farms that 
feed our people, and the forests that lift our spirits." In January, Hunt 
outlined his challenge at the launch of a year long study of growth 
management issues by the state General Assembly. Hunt says he will 
introduce legislation next month to establish the Million Acres goals 
into law, and establish by executive order a Million Acres Advisory Panel 
to coordinate the initiative. Hunt said his state budget, to be unveiled 
next month, will increase funding for farmland preservation to at least 
$1 million and create computer databases of land use maps to track the 
program's progress. Hunt also endorsed a plan to increase funding in the 
state Clean Water Management Trust Fund by $70 million over three years. 
The plan would allow the state to increase acquisition of critical 
greenspace for water-quality protection. More information is available 
at: www.enr.state.nc.us/ENR/ 


Steve Bean

PS: I wanted to cc Engler, but I couldn't find an email address on the 
state's website, just a form that will send a message (which I did use). 
For someone gunning for Michigan to be the "Information State", he's 
pretty stingy with his own.


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