overview

This course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview on the wide range of approaches that are used to pay for land conservation in the United States. After an overview lesson, the course describes the roles of federal, state and local governments in financing land conservation. The course then presents several lessons on techniques and strategies used to create local funding for land conservation via ballot measure, the predominant approach used by local governments. The remaining three lessons focus on "special topics" in conservation finance, such as protection of drinking water, renewal of brownfields as parks, control of stormwater through land conservation, mitigation of wetlands and protection of working lands (farms, ranches and forests).

The lessons are designed to take 30-60 minutes each to read through. In addition, each lesson is followed by an exercise designed to test your knowledge of the lesson's highlights. Completion of the exercises may require information not presented in the lesson. As a starting point it will be helpful to follow links embedded in each lesson, which lead to documents illustrating specific points.

This course was produced in early 2005 as a collaboration between the U.S. EPA, the New England Environmental Finance Center at the Muskie School of Public Service, and the Conservation Finance Program at the Trust for Public Land. Principal author was Matthew Zieper of the Trust for Public Land.

1. Overview of Conservation Finance: In this lesson you will learn general background information on land conservation, and the role of the federal government, state governments, local governments and nonprofit conservation partners. The lesson also introduces the emerging idea of strategic land conservation (or "greenprinting"), an approach that some local governments are using to manage growth. At the core of all land conservation efforts, strategic or not, is the need for funding. The lesson delves into a brief overview on the history of conservation finance in the United States, ranging from the establishment of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to the emergence of state and local conservation finance programs in the 1960s, up until the present widespread trend of states and local governments creating funding for land conservation and parks.

2. Federal Funding: In this lesson, you will learn about the roles that the federal government might play in helping achieve land conservation goals at the state or local/regional level. There are three primary roles that the federal government might play in helping assemble a funding quilt: 1) Direct federal grants; 2) State directed federal grants; 3) Direct federal acquisition.

3. State Funding I: In this lesson,you will learn about the critical role that states play in conservation finance in the United States. States are both principal participants in conservation finance, through their direct efforts to protect land, but also, through policies they establish, facilitators of conservation finance efforts undertaken by local governments and nonprofit groups. Underpinning conservation finance in a state is a series of public policies – i.e., a "policy framework" – that play a central role in determining whether significant conservation will take place or whether land conservation will languish. The focus of this lesson is to introduce this policy framework and present examples illustrating how these policies can be put to use.

4. State Funding II: In this lesson, you will learn about three of the leading states – New Jersey , Colorado and Florida – that have developed successful conservation finance partnerships between the state and local governments. New Jersey, Colorado and Florida have the broadest participation by local governments in passing conservation finance ballot measures. All three states vary in their specific approaches, (which will be reviewed in detail), yet all have enabling authority that allows a local government to establish a dedicated funding source via a ballot measure. These states also have substantial, dedicated funding sources that provide incentives (typically grants) to local governments to create their own funding sources, in addition to enabling the state to accomplish its conservation objectives.

5. Local Funding I: In this lesson, you will learn the varied approaches that local governments use to establish dedicated funding for land conservation. Dedicated funding is at the foundation of any successful, long-term effort at local land conservation. The tools for raising funding for land conservation at the local government level are quite diverse and continually expanding. Availability of financing options depends on state enabling laws and generally takes the form of either “pay-as-you-go” funding, long-term borrowing or a combination of the two. "Pay-as-you-go" funding comes primarily from common revenue sources, such as general budgetary appropriations, or dedicated sales and property taxes. In addition, real estate transfer taxes and park/open space impact fees are used by some local governments. Borrowing for open space, rather than "pay-as-you-go" provides substantial upfront funding, albeit with higher repayment costs. Borrowing may involve general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, lease arrangements or certificates of participation. The funding tools discussed in this lesson are primarily used by municipal or county governments, depending upon the state's enabling laws. Some states allow for the creation of special districts (discussed briefly) that may utilize the funding mechanisms outlined here to acquire parks and open space.

6. Local Funding Measure Design I: In this lesson, you will learn how local governments can create funding for land conservation using ballot measures, with a focus on the specific elements that comprise feasibility research: demographics and land use, revenue options, legal constraints and election/political analysis. The emphasis is on the local level since there is ample evidence that local funding is the foundation of effective long-term land conservation efforts. State and federal funding can serve as supplements or incentives, but competition is fierce to rely upon these outside public sources. Private funding may also serve as an occasional source of funding, but cannot be relied upon to establish a land conservation program. In addition, state, federal and private sources of funding often require matching funds, which is another reason that local funding is so critical. Ballot measures are featured since long-term, sustainable funding for land conservation has been created far more often via ballot measures than through local legislation. While there is no guaranteed recipe for success in designing successful conservation finance ballot measures, an approach based on research and polling increases the likelihood of success.

7. Local Funding Measure Design II: In this lesson you will learn how public opinion surveys can inform the development of a ballot question. Developing an effective public opinion survey should draw upon feasibility research provides the background information necessary to determine whether to move forward with a conservation finance ballot measure. Through the research process, we learn about potential revenue options and revenue raising capacity, a community's fiscal health (tax rates and bond ratings), key policy issues, past experience with ballot measures and legal considerations for election timing and ballot measure design. All this information is important to determining whether to move forward with a ballot measure.

8. Drinking Water: In this lesson, you will learn how land conservation can play a role in protecting drinking water. Specific examples are presented that outline the variety of funding sources can be assembled into a "funding quilt" to protect water supply lands. Federal programs that support the protection of drinking water supplies are reviewed, as well as innovative state programs and leading local programs.

9. Stormwater Management, Wetlands Mitigation and Brownfields Conversion: In this lesson you will learn innovative ways that land conservation is being used to address issues of stormwater management and flood control, the mitigation of wetlands losses, and the conversion of brownfields into parks. Within each of these areas, several innovative examples will be presented that demonstrate how this land conservation is being funded.

10. Working Lands: In this lesson, you will learn how land conservation is being used to deal with the loss of working farms, ranches and forests and the range of approaches – federal, state, local and private – that are used to pay for these land protection efforts.