Open lands advocate considers sustainable future

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Thirteen years and 43,578 acres preserved in Larimer County. Dollars collected for the county and its eight municipalities: $105 million and counting.

When K-Lynn Cameron leaves her job as the first open lands manager in mid-June, she will still be thinking about what the future holds for these beloved lands and the tax-supported conservation program that protects them.

The 0.25 percent voter-approved sales tax that funds these efforts will expire in 2018, but Cameron believes the time to start reevaluating the open lands program is now.

"With the economy down, it's time to catch our breath and talk to the community," she said in a recent interview.

Cameron has a vision that a future open lands program can form more inclusive partnerships with the county's residents, a vision that promotes "healthy land, healthy people and healthy communities."

"Open lands has had phenomenal success since 1996," she said. "To continue, we need to make some changes to adapt to the changing world...What does the next generation of open space sales tax look like to be successful - to reach out to all levels of the community?"

Voters approved the county's first open lands sales tax in November 1995 and renewed it in 1999 with the ability for the program to borrow money to purchase special lands more immediately. Incoming taxes are now paying off that debt, as well as paying for land management.

This has resulted in protection of larger ecosystems by buying land outright or by purchasing conservation easements that preclude development. In some cases, the county is a financial partner with other groups such as Fort Collins, The Nature Conservancy or Legacy Land Trust. Two of the larger acquisitions in northern Larimer County are Red Mountain Open Space (opening June 6, see page 12) and Eagle's Nest Open Space.

About 58 percent of the sales tax goes back to the incorporated communities in Larimer County. Wellington, for example, has received about $880,000 and Fort Collins has received nearly $40 million from the countywide tax. This formula for sharing means small communities don't have to ask their residents to pass separate tax issues to protect open space, a matter that could be a critical part of the tax renewal request, Cameron said.

Partnerships with other nonprofit agencies working on health and social issues should also be considered, she suggested. "We need to broaden our minds to be more accessible to low-income people, to get a wider audience," she said.

She noted that there is no fee to visit the protected lands designated for public use, but many people don't have the ability to get there.

"Are we protecting land and connecting with people from all parts of the community?" she asked. That would be another topic for discussion.

Here are a few other concepts on the discussion list: Can open spaces be used to grow healthy food? Can schools and children's programs become more involved? Are there additional ways open spaces can enhance economic vitality?

As the discussion gets going, county residents might find themselves being asked to complete a survey, members of volunteer boards will be given a chance to weigh in with their opinions, and people living in the incorporated communities will want to consider how their local governments are spending the open space tax dollars.

"My heart is still with the open lands program, but to be sustainable we have to look at it in a different way," Cameron said.