
{"id":221,"date":"2007-05-02T12:12:01","date_gmt":"2007-05-02T20:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/05\/02\/land-and-jobs-for-tomorrow\/"},"modified":"2007-05-02T12:12:01","modified_gmt":"2007-05-02T20:12:01","slug":"land-and-jobs-for-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/05\/02\/land-and-jobs-for-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Land (and jobs) for tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>By Abdul Rasheed\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s encouraging to see the positive attention generated by a proposal in the General Assembly that could lead to the most important environmental initiative in the history of our state. Those of us involved with the project call it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Land for Tomorrow.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Others refer to it as the land-use plan in House Bill 990 and Senate Bill 1522, both introduced a few weeks ago with broad support from Democrats and Republicans alike.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely the kind of support this measure deserves. The plan calls for a statewide bond referendum to spend $1 billion during the next five years to protect North Carolina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most precious natural resources. Why so much? Well, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot at stake. North Carolina is very rapidly losing farmland and other natural resources that have helped make our state such a spectacular place to live and work. The Land for Tomorrow proposal would help reverse this trend. Whether you consider yourself a greener-than-green environmentalist, a business-savvy bottom-liner or just a concerned North Carolinian, this proposal deserves your attention. In a nutshell, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what it would do if approved:<\/p>\n<p>Most of the money would be placed in land and water trust funds the General Assembly set aside in the 1980s and 1990s. Resources from those funds are used to protect drinking and recreational waters, to establish state parks, to fund local recreation projects and to preserve other natural areas and historical places. Roughly $200 million of the bond money would go toward protecting prime agricultural and forest lands. In 2005, our state lost 1,000 farms. Forestry acreage is at its lowest point in years. According to a Land for Tomorrow report, more than 100,000 acres of North Carolina land are developed each year. North Carolina has one of the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastest-growing populations, and more than 3,300 miles of the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s streams and rivers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t meet water-quality standards.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing these issues will be good for all our citizens. Finally, that reality is beginning to sink in across the state \u00e2\u20ac\u201d not only within the land-protection and natural resources community, but in the General Assembly and the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boardrooms as well. To witness this support in the legislature is heartening. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just as gratifying to see support growing within the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s business community. North Carolina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forward-looking corporate leaders are starting to realize this so-called environmental movement makes good business sense too. These leaders now understand that protecting our natural resources is an investment in our economy and future. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fortunate, because we probably couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this happen without their help.<\/p>\n<p>If you love North Carolina, it should be hard to argue with any of this. But if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still not convinced, consider the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Landing Jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d aspect of the project. Landing Jobs would represent about $150 million during the five years of total funding. The idea is to create and retain jobs \u00e2\u20ac\u201d along with other economic and community development initiatives \u00e2\u20ac\u201d while promoting land conservation, historic preservation and parks and recreation. We would help diversify and build economic sectors based on the sustainable use of natural and cultural resources.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit organization I am proud to represent, the N.C. Community Development Initiative (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncinitiative.org\">www.ncinitiative.org<\/a>), would manage the program by doing what we do best: by awarding grants and loans to qualified recipients. These recipients will be expected to create jobs and business opportunities while supporting our natural and cultural resources.<\/p>\n<p>Under the terms of the proposal, Landing Jobs is a small piece of a bigger picture.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, it will be a challenge. But our group has built a national reputation by overseeing similarly ambitious and creative projects for nearly 15 years. Each year, we act as a conduit for millions of dollars being pumped into communities from one end of the state to the other. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t simply hand out money. We insist on financial accountability. We support groups we believe can make a difference \u00e2\u20ac\u201d groups we hope can sustain themselves someday. Playing such a role with Land for Tomorrow (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.landfortomorrow.org\">www.landfortomorrow.org<\/a>) would be an honor.<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina remains a jewel in a nation of riches. Of course, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a secret these days \u00e2\u20ac\u201d as our growth suggests. But our great state will not continue to flourish if we let our natural resources slip away. Can you help keep that from happening? Absolutely. Let your elected officials know how important this proposal is. Let the business leaders in your community know too. And when the time comes to support this initiative at the polls, be sure to do your part by voting. Come to think about it, $1 billion really isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t such a high price.<\/p>\n<p>At least when you consider the future of our state may rest in the balance.<\/p>\n<p><em>Abdul Rasheed is CEO of the North Carolina Community Development Initiative in Raleigh.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Abdul Rasheed\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s encouraging to see the positive attention generated by a proposal in the General Assembly that could lead to the most important environmental initiative in the history of our state. Those of us involved with the project call it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Land for Tomorrow.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Others refer to it as the land-use plan in House&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}