The Land Trust recent signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) to initiate a Deschutes County Greenprint. A “Greenprint” is a process developed by TPL to collect information from the community about the public’s conservation priorities and then develop a plan to fund the acquisition of key properties. TPL has national experience with Greenprinting and when combined with the Land Trust’s knowledge of our local communities and natural resources, it’s a winning partnership. 

With an MOU in hand, the partners have been actively reaching out to local governments for their support and participation. In fact, one of the earliest and strongest advocates for the Deschutes County Greenprint has been the Bend Metro Park & Recreation District. Once full funding has been secured, the partners intend to hold a number of public forums starting early this winter. Since the open space needs will vary throughout Central Oregon, the partners have chosen to start in Deschutes County and, assuming they’re successful, they will then explore interest in other counties of the Deschutes River basin. From the Deschutes Land Trust’s perspective, the prospect of developing a true community vision for open space protection is an exciting one and you can expect to hear a great deal more in the year ahead.

Read the Bend Bulletin article on the partnership.