pen space - the Triangle's green infrastructure - is land left as fields and forests while other land is developed into homes and businesses. These green spaces are important to the quality of human life and to the survival of the region's native plants and animals. Open spaces serve to protect the quality of our lakes, streams, and groundwater. They are valued for their scenic qualities, their role in sustaining our natural heritage, sense of place, and rural economy, and for their potential use for recreation, education, and research.
Project Summary: The Triangle GreenPrint Project is an initiative to help the Triangle protect a linked network of green space as the region grows. By identifying the Triangle's essential green infrastructure and showing how it fits together on a regional scale, the GreenPrint is helping communities, land management organizations, and the general public maximize the investments they make in green space protection.
The project is sponsored by the Triangle J Council of Governments, the Triangle Land Conservancy, and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In turn, these organizations are working closely with a variety of other partners including local governments, nonprofit conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, universities, and citizens.
Phase 1: The Technical Phase of the project brought together more than 140 green space experts from across the Triangle to identify important open spaces across the region. This work is summarized in the Triangle GreenPrint Regional Open Space Assessment that was completed in February of 2002.
Phase 2: In the Public Outreach Phase, project staff made public presentations across the six-county study area to share the information collected in Phase 1 and solicit feedback. A total of 25 presentations and displays were made to more than 800 people. The Board of County Commissioners in each county in the study area (Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Orange, and Wake) then adopted a resolution of support for the project, pledging to use the GreenPrint information in its planning and protection work, and participate in efforts to create a regional green space network. An Outreach Report summarizing the work of this phase was completed in July of 2003.
Phase 3: In March of 2003, the GreenPrint sponsors launched the Tracking and Coordination Phase of the project. This component of the project will identify and track all the current and planned land protection and trails projects in the region. The project team will then use GIS to compare these places with those identified in Phase 1 to measure the progress the region is making toward protecting a linked network of green space. This information will also help land management organizations identify new land protection opportunities and serve as a catalyst for greater cross-jurisdictional collaboration on land protection and trails initiatives.
Conclusion: In these ways, the project is helping the Research Triangle Region to maximize the investments it makes in open space protection, and preserve a linked network of green space for current and future generations of residents. In May of 2002, the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (NCAPA) recognized the work of the project by selecting it to receive its 2002 award for outstanding regional planning.
