Quadrants
Each year, TPL and the National Association of Counties present awards for leadership,
innovation, and excellence in land conservation to county programs nationwide.
This year’s winners of the County Leadership in Conservation Awards in categories
for (respectively) large, medium, and small counties are:
ENVIRONMENTAL LANDS ACQUISITION
AND PROTECTION PROGRAM
Hillsborough County, Florida
In 1986, commissioners in this fast-growing county on
Tampa Bay formed a citizen-led group to identify and
protect natural lands. Three times since then, voters have
approved taxes and bonds to fund the program, most
recently last November, when 79 percent of voters approved
a $200 million measure, the largest county measure in
Florida history. To date, the program has acquired more
than 44,700 acres, tripling the county’s protected open
space, parklands, and wildlife habitat.
REGIONAL OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
Washoe County, Nevada
Home to the eastern Sierra cities of Reno and Sparks,
Washoe County adopted its first open space plan in 1994—
despite already having large qualities of federal open
space—and updated the plan in 2008. From 2000 through
2006, county and state voters approved a total of $50 mil-
lion for conservation, including land along the Truckee River,
which flows through Reno and Sparks. Using these voter-
approved funds, the county has leveraged an additional $14
million from state, federal, and private sources to create
Washoe County, Nevada
COUR TESY OF WASHOE COUN TY
