Voters Approve $2.9 Billion for Land Conservation

Download the Report (PDF; 733 KB)

Voters in 93 communities in 22 states approved on Nov. 5 ballot measures that committed $2.9 billion to acquire and restore land for parks and open space. The successful measures were among 109 conservation measures considered on state and local ballots across the United States. On Nov. 5 alone, voters approved 85 percent of the referenda on which they voted.

Tallying results for 2002, the Land Trust Alliance and the Trust for Public Land found that voters approved 139 of 188 conservation and conservation-related ballot measures they faced in 2002, generating $5.7 billion in local and state funding for land protection.

Indeed, voters approved a far larger sum for conservation in general because many ballot measures contained funding in addition to that dedicated for land acquisition and restoration. The 93 referenda that passed on Nov. 5 yielded approximately $6.9 billion for all conservation and conservation-related funds, including that for land acquisition and restoration. For 2002, the 139 successful measures generated approximately $10 billion in such conservation and conservation-related funding.

“Protecting the American landscape for all time”

"Voters in a bipartisan manner have again voiced their strong support for protection of natural lands, clean water, and safe communities," said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth. "They understand that we are losing 2 million acres each year, and they have shown their concern that the lands we protect today will affect the American landscape for all time.”

"2002 is another year of very strong voter support for open space protection across the country," said Will Rogers, President of TPL. "At a time when the threshold for government spending and borrowing is rising, Americans continue to demonstrate that they will pay to protect the places that are special to them."

The largest measures passed on Nov. 5 include three statewide measures:

A complete list of local and state balloting is available online at  www.landvote.org, a partnership of TPL and Land Trust Alliance.  The results are now available in report form. (PDF; 733KB)

LandVote 2002 Methodology

(*) LandVote tabulates both 1) specific funding for land acquisition and restoration that is contained in successful measures, and 2) the total overall funding contained in these measures for which voters cast votes - including land acquisition and restoration, other conservation purposes, and related purposes.  Both sets of figures - the land protection specific and the overall  - serve to document the substantial voter support that exists for conservation and the voters' willingness to pay for conservation.

Most, but not all, of the measures tabulated by LandVote are bond measures, ballot questions that authorize the use of bonded indebtedness (general obligation bonds) for the purpose of raising government revenue.  Other measures tabulated by LandVote are property tax and sales tax increases.  The value of measures are calculated over the life of the measure.  In the case of bonds this is usually 20 or 30 years.  When a ballot measure contains no sunset provision, Land Vote estimates its revenue total based a 20-year duration.

updated 1/31/03