Trust For Public Land Statement on Clean Ohio Fund Approval

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pam Carson, Ohio state director of The Trust for Public Land, today issued the following statement regarding the approval by Gov. John Kasich and Ohio's General Assembly of $52 million in additional funding for the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund:

"We applaud the governor, the leadership in the General Assembly, and the bipartisan cooperation demonstrated by the House and Senate Finance Committees in making a strong and lasting statement that protecting clean water, open space, and recreation is good for Ohio and good for the economy."

Since it was first approved the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund has had strong bipartisan support from state leaders and has had an impact in every one of Ohio's 88 counties, helping to create parks, build trails and protect farmland for future generations. The program has conserved more than 92,000 acres of open space and farmland since 2000. The Trust for Public Land issued a report in the spring that detailed how $1 invested in the Clean Ohio Fund's conservation programs returned at least $4 worth of natural goods and services, such as drinking water protection, flood control, and air pollution removal.

When voters reauthorized the program in 2008, it allowed $200 million to be dedicated to conservation programs including farmland preservation, open space, and trails. The General Assembly approved selling $100 million in 2008 but there were no additional bond sales until the 2012 capital budget, when the legislation approved another $48 million.

Founded in 1972, The Trust for Public Land is the leading nonprofit working to conserve land for people. Operating from more than 30 offices nationwide, The Trust for Public Land has protected more than three million acres from the inner city to the wilderness and helped generate more than $34 billion in public funds for conservation. Nearly ten million people live within a ten-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year. Learn more at tpl.org

SOURCE The Trust For Public Land

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