The Trust for Public Land of Ohio Unveils Mapping Tool to Aid Land-Conservation Efforts
A new land-conservation tool developed by The Trust for Public Land (TPL) of Ohio promises to change the way communities and regional planners develop and execute strategies for conserving land throughout the state. TPL’s Ohio Greenprint Gateway, a web-based geographic information system (GIS)
mapping service, layers information from databases maintained by local and state jurisdictions—including park districts, county auditors’ offices, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and local transportation departments—in 20 northern Ohio counties.
The Greenprinting map interface helps end-users identify conservation priorities based on information ranging from property ownership and estimated market value to neighborhood demographics and existing natural resources. “This is the first time land-conservation advocates will have a single tool to identify opportunities to protect land near trails where endangered species are known to exist or near vulnerable watersheds” said Bill Carroll, Ohio Director of The Trust for Public Land. “They also will be able to plan parks and playgrounds where the need is greatest by pinpointing areas where few parks exist and targeting locations where the most underserved children live. The Greenprinting service is part of The Trust for Public Land’s national mission to help others achieve conservation goals and ensure that everyone—in particular, every child – enjoys access to a park, playground or open space.
TPL is offering the Greenprinting service, and the training to use it, free of charge to any individual, agency or organization with an interest in land conservation. “Cleveland Metroparks staff has been following TPL’s development of the Greenprint tool and are very excited about applying it to our planning and real-estate activities,” said Patty Stevens, Chief of Park Planning for Cleveland Metroparks. “It will be particularly
beneficial to smaller land-conservation organizations that can’t afford to have in-house GIS capabilities. This is a tremendous gift to our community.”
Widely regarded as one of the most successful, results-driven land conservation organizations in the state, The Trust for Public Land works at the invitation of private landowners, public agencies, park districts and communities to create parks and protect natural areas. TPL, which has helped to conserve 10,000 acres in Ohio, accomplishes its mission through partnerships with private donors, businesses, local officials and funders.
Greenprinting is just one of the services TPL offers communities and agencies. In addition to helping develop a vision for creating parks, TPL helps identify and generate funds for conservation from federal, state, local and philanthropic sources. For example, the Conservation Finance Program assists states, counties and municipalities in designing legislation and ballot measures that will dedicate public funds for new parks and land conservation.
Through its Conservation Transactions, TPL helps structure, negotiate and complete land transactions that protect natural areas and create parks. TPL serves as an independent agent, buying land from willing landowners and then transferring it to public agencies, land trusts or other groups for protection. In some instances, TPL will protect land through conservation easements, which restrict development but permit traditional uses such as farming and ranching.
TPL of Ohio focuses these land-conservation efforts on four strategic initiatives:
- Increasing public access along Lake Erie’s 313-mile shoreline.
- Establishing a network of parks, trails and protected lands and protecting the water
quality of Ohio’s rivers and watersheds. - Creating a 110-mile contiguous trail and conservation corridor from New Philadelphia to Cleveland.
- Connecting the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail to Canal Basin Park, helping to create a trail linkage to Lake Erie and Whiskey Island in Cleveland and creating more recreational space for people who live downtown.
The Ohio Greenprint Gateway currently contains the best data available for 20 counties in northern Ohio, including Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Fulton, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Medina, Ottawa, Portage, Sandusky, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Wayne and Williams. TPL intends to expand the service to cover all of Ohio as funding permits.
Limited access to the Ohio Greenprint Gateway is available at www.ohiogreenprint.org. To learn more about the Greenprinting features and to inquire about training opportunities, contact Carol Galloway at 216-928-7518.