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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
February 9, 2009
Greenbelt Alliance sees opportunity to protect open space
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The Greenbelt Alliance, the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Bay Area Open Space Council released a report this week highlighting ways to preserve land in the nine Bay Area counties.
Titled "Golden Lands, Golden Opportunity," the report details principles and methods of identifying vital lands the organizations said are necessary for the health of California.
"Many of the lands that we take for granted, the hillsides and farmland that we drive by, aren't protected," said Elizabeth Stampe, spokeswoman for the Greenbelt Alliance. "These lands function as a network for animals and plants to roam and for public recreation, so the more we can knit together, the better they will function. The idea was to identify lands that provide public benefits that aren't protected from development."
The report also discusses ways to protect those lands, by creating access to safe, clean parks; making more money available to buy land, conservation easements and stewardships; and forging policies and programs that shield privately held land.
For Solano County, the report indicates that wetlands, farmland and hills could thrive with focused attention. It says the county's productive agriculture land, miles of riverfront and the Suisun Marsh are just a few of the local resources that warrant preservation.
Solano is the only Bay Area county without an open space district, the report claims, suggesting it should create one to preserve farm and grazing lands, as well as much-needed public access to the outdoors.
It also recommends helping farmers build value-added operations and provide economic incentives to keep farming.
"These essential steps will preserve Solano's valuable agriculture sector -- the county's second-largest economic driver," the report's authors wrote.
For a full version of the report, visit www.greenbelt.org.
