1. KAINE SETS HIGH GOAL FOR VA. LAND PRESERVATION
By Calvin R. Trice
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
LEXINGTON -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposes to more than double in the next
four years the amount of state land put off-limits to development since
1968.
During a speech at Virginia Military Institute yesterday, the governor
announced a goal of setting aside 400,000 acres of land by the end of this
decade. The state has preserved 330,000 acres in the past 38 years, Kaine
noted.
Balanced land use is one of the cornerstones of his administration's
environmental plan, which he outlined in his speech.
"Balanced land use is about foresight," Kaine told a crowd of environmental
experts at VMI's Cameron Hall.
"It's about understanding the needs of today and weighing them against the
needs of tomorrow. It's about solutions that meet both the short-term needs
of business and the long-term needs of a community."
Kaine spoke on the third and last day of the 17th Annual Environment
Virginia Symposium. The gathering brings together professionals from
business, govern- ment, education and nonprofits to work cooperatively on
issues such as land management and pollution prevention.
Virginia has agreed with other Chesapeake Bay states to protect 20 percent
of the bay watershed from development by 2010. While Maryland and
Pennsylvania have met the goal, Kaine said, Virginia is 358,000 acres short.
The governor said he believes the state can achieve his ambitious land
preservation goal with tax credits for landowners who voluntarily set aside
land for nondevelopment and through the Virginia Land Conservation
Foundation.
Ann Jennings, Virginia executive director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation,
said she is excited by Kaine's environmental goals.
"Governor Kaine laid out, in my opinion, a very strong and very clear plan
for his administration in addressing the land protection and water quality
concerns of the commonwealth," Jennings said.
The governor vowed to fight attempts to limit conservation tax credits,
which some legislators believe are too generous and out of control.
Kaine said he also wants to get reliable, clean running water to the 19,000
homes in Virginia that don't have it. And he wants to convene an outdoor
summit this year that will follow up on the Natural Resources Leadership
Summit called by his predecessor, former Gov. Mark R. Warner.
Recalling President Theodore Roosevelt's prediction 100 years ago that
conservation would touch on many of the nation's problems, Kaine said, "Now
is the time to heed those words."
"Now is the time to be good stewards, to work together in partnership to
protect Virginia's outdoors. Now is the time to fulfill our obligation to
our children's children."
The theme for this year's Environment Virginia was "Linking Economic and
Environmental Health: It's Everybody's Business."
About 150 students attended the symposium as part of the Student
Environmental Leadership Summit, VMI said.
2. KAINE SEEKS TO DOUBLE AMOUNT OF PROTECTED LAND
By Sue Lindsey
Associated Press Writer
LEXINGTON, Va. - To applause from environmental professionals, Gov. Timothy
M. Kaine on Thursday outlined an ambitious plan for protecting land from
development in Virginia, saying his goal is to preserve 400,000 acres in the
next four years.
Virginia has put 330,000 acres off-limits to development since 1968, and
Kaine told several hundred people at an environmental symposium that most of
the preservation has occurred in the past five years.
The state needs to more than double the amount of land it preserves to meets
its obligations under a Chesapeake Bay restoration pact. Under that
multistate agreement, Virginia must protect from development another 358,000
acres in the bay watershed by 2010.
"This is not just the right thing to do," Kaine told the gathering of mostly
government and industry representatives at Virginia Military Institute.
"I'll do it because if I don't, the opportunity to do it will not be there
for future governors."
The governor cited a report released Wednesday by the conservation group
American Rivers listing the Shenandoah as the fifth most endangered river in
the nation because of overdevelopment.
At its current growth rate, Virginia will develop more land in the next 40
years than it has in the last 400, Kaine said, referring to the 400th
anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Colony next year.
To accomplish the preservation goal, Kaine said the state will offer tax
credits to property owners as well as easements and purchases by the
Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. He said he will work with legislators
to provide more state money for land acquisition.
Asked by The Associated Press how he intends to preserve so much land so
quickly, Kaine said state officials will have to be aggressive.
"We're going to have to go out and find landowners," he said.
Kaine also noted that Virginia is second only to Pennsylvania in the amount
of trash it receives from other states, and said he will seek to lower that
ranking. Being the recipient of large amounts of trash "is a horrible use of
land," he said.
He vowed to resist federal efforts to sell national forest land in the
state, and said he takes "a dim view" of roadbuilding in such territory.
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3. GOV. KAINE OUTLINES HIS AGENDA FOR ENVIRONMENT
By Scott Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
LEXINGTON - Gov. Timothy M. Kaine laid out his environmental agenda in a
speech Thursday in this Shenandoah Valley college town, saying he wants to
protect 400,000 acres of land from development over the next four years.
That would double the amount of property the state has set aside since 1968
and would push Virginia beyond its land-conservation commitments under the
Chesapeake Bay cleanup accords, signed in 2000 .
The state needs to protect an additional 360,000 acres by 2010 to keep its
promise. Bay cleanup partners Maryland and Pennsylvania already have
achieved their conservation goals.
Kaine outlined his green goals on the last day of the annual Environment
Virginia Symposium at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. VMI has
hosted the gathering of government officials, scientists, engineers and
activists since 1990 .
Kaine was the first governor to address the assembly in nearly a decade .
He blamed "much procrastination" by politicians in recent years for putting
Virginia behind in restoring the Bay. He said he wants to "stop losing" on
environmental issues and instead "start going on the offensive."
The governor listed a number of priorities during his 45-minute address,
some new, most already described on last year's campaign trail or in
legislative debate this winter.
Among them:
-- A commitment to work with Virginia's congressional delegation to curb
out-of-state trash shipments to the commonwealth. Virginia imports more
garbage for disposal than any state except Pennsylvania .
-- A vow to fight efforts from the Bush administration to sell parcels of
national forest to private companies and to construct new roads into
inaccessible parts of national forests.
-- A desire to develop waste-to-energy technologies, including the burning
of chicken manure for electricity at specialized plants.
-- A promise to push for tougher controls of mercury emissions from
coal-burning power plants and industries if a new state law does not do
enough to lower levels of the toxic metal in rivers and streams.
Environmentalists opposed the law and urged Kaine to veto it; he instead
amended it.
-- A pledge to organize a Natural Resources Leadership Summit by the end of
the year , "to be honest in looking at the progress we've made and the
progress that still needs to occur," he said. Former Gov. Mark R. Warner
called the first such summit three years ago.
Some attendees said they did not hear enough specifics , but they applauded
Kaine for his energy on an issue that historically has been on the back
burner .
"I'd say we're encouraged by the issues he wants to take on," said Mike Town
, state director of the Sierra Club . "I heard a lot of goals but not a lot
of specifics. But we certainly hope he achieves them."
To reach the 400,000-acre goal for land conservation, Kaine said, a mixture
of tax incentives for interested property owners and direct land purchases
would be the two most powerful tools.
Virginia does not have a permanent fund for buying ecologically important
lands. It relies on tax credits for people willing to give up their
development rights .
The state also sells bonds, which must be repaid, to purchase state park
land and natural areas.
Kaine said the pace of development is so fast now that if property is not
protected more aggressively , future generations will not be able to reverse
the tide.
"Now is the time to be good stewards," Kaine said.
He described his commitment to the environment as "very deep and very
personal," noting his love for the outdoors, hiking, camping and fishing.
Kaine also recalled how the natural beauty of Virginia was one reason he
decided to live here instead of return to his native Kansas City. One of the
turning points, he said, was when his then-girlfriend - who now is his wife,
Anne Holton - took him to a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from
Lexington.
"It was in the fall, too," he recalled, "and the leaves were just bursting
with color."
After that, Kaine added, "I kind of knew I wouldn't be seeing much of my
parents back in Kansas City anymore."
4. GOVERNOR VOWS TO PRESERVE VA. LAND
In a policy speech at an environmental conference, Kaine said he would
protect more land from development.
Tim Thornton
Roanoke Times
LEXINGTON -- Gov. Tim Kaine vowed Thursday to shield 400,000 acres of
Virginia from development before his term ends in 2010.
That's 70,000 acres more than the commonwealth has protected since 1968.
Speaking to more than 800 people at Environment Virginia 2006, Kaine
declared, "Virginia's identity begins with its land."
And now is the time to preserve that land.
"If we don't, future generations won't even have the choice," the governor
said.
The three-day event at Virginia Military Institute drew state and federal
bureaucrats, environmentalists and companies as diverse as Appalachian Power
and Smithfield Foods. Their common bond was concern about environmental
policy.
Kaine made it clear that his administration's policy includes an aggressive
drive for land preservation.
More than a quarter of the development that's taken place in Virginia since
Jamestown's founding 399 years ago has happened in the last 15 years, Kaine
said. If the current rate continues, the commonwealth will develop as much
land in the next 40 years as in its first 400.
Saying he will convene a summit this year to talk about how to protect
Virginia's land and improve its water quality, Kaine quoted Theodore
Roosevelt's speech at Jamestown's 300th anniversary.
"The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute
the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem in our
national life," Roosevelt said.
Kaine pronounced those words to be even truer today.
The governor vowed to promote sustainable growth, preserve tax credits on
conservation easements, provide more money for the Virginia Land
Conservation Foundation and find more funds for local governments' use to
purchase development rights.
Kaine also pledged to seek some way to put less out-of-state trash in
Virginia landfills. Virginia trails only Pennsylvania in the importation of
trash from other states.
"Being the nation's trash dump is a horrible use of land," Kaine said.
The governor's wide-ranging speech touched on water quality, air quality, a
long-term energy plan and the possibility of turning chicken and turkey
waste into fuel.
But land and land preservation dominated his presentation.
Agriculture and forestry comprise Virginia's largest industry, bringing more
than $64 billion in economic benefits to the commonwealth annually. Tourism,
at $15.3 billion, is the commonwealth's second largest industry.
With Virginia's population expected to increase by nearly 24 percent by
2030, pressure to develop will continue to grow -- and development is
growing faster than the commonwealth's population.
Hours before Kaine spoke, a conservation group called American Rivers
declared the Shenandoah River No. 5 on the group's 10 most-threatened rivers
list. Development, the organization said, is the Shenandoah's main threat.
Kaine said he learned the attraction of Virginia's land long ago, when he
and his then-fiancee Anne Holton were trying to decide whether they should
set up housekeeping in Virginia, near her parents, or in Kansas, near his.
Holton invited him to a friend's cabin near Goshen Pass, west of Lexington.
It was fall and the trees were bursting with color.
"My parents haven't seen a lot of me in the last 20 years," Kaine said.
