Bartow County Greenspace Program KBB Greenspace

What is the Bartow County Greenspace Program?

Details: Parent Category: Keep Bartow Beautiful; Last Updated on 11 March 2013; Published on 12 May 2011; Hits: 782

Links to Hiking Opportunities

Bartow County, as well as all the cities in Bartow County, recieve funds to purchase Greenspace, protected areas of undeveloped landscape. For the most part, the county and the cities pool their money together so that more greenspace can be purchased in a more efficient manner. Since 2003, approximately 1,200 acres of Greenspace has been purchased in Bartow County and the sites are picked based on a list of criteria given by the state. The list consists of historical significance, environmental signifigance, corriders that link wildlife and people, cultural signifigance, and nominations from the community.

In 2000, the Georgia legislature adopted Governor Roy Barnes' community greenspace program, which created incentives for high-growth counties and municipalities to permanently preserve 20 percent of their geographical area as neighborhood accessible greenspace. The resulting law required communities to devise plans for greenspace protection by December. To help implement the program, the legislature set aside $30 million for distribution by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to local communities for greenspace trust funds.

Since 2003, two SPLOSTs have been passed that had $2 million attached for Greenspace! One of the newest additions to Bartow's vast Greenspace areas is Pine Mountain. You can find one entrance (to the West Loop) at the end of Main Street right over U.S. 75. Pine Mountain also connects to the Coopers Furnace Trail, one of the existing Greenspace areas owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Greenspace Program and incorporated hiking trails are managed by multiple organizations and individuals including Sheri Henshaw and Missy Phillips of Keep Bartow Beautiful, City of Cartersville Parks and Recreation, Bartow County Parks and Recreation, Red Top Mountain State Park, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

See below or click on the following links to see Why Greenspace is Important to Bartow County, Bartow County's Greenspace Aquisitions, What Makes Bartow County's Greenspace Program So Successful and Bartow County's Funding Sources.

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