From the Daily News Record:
STAUNTON – Timothy M. Kaine told land conservationists on Thursday that their help has helped his administration to be slightly ahead of a pace to permanently set aside 400,000 acres of open space during his four-year term.
Speaking at the Virginia Union Land Trust conference at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel & Conference Center, Kaine said between 260,000 and 270,000 acres would be conserved by mid-July.
The General Assembly appropriated $30 million for the program, although Kaine asked for $50 million.
Open-space efforts also will be aided, he said, by the state agreeing to match funding from the Civil War Preservation Trust, Kaine said.
The trust has agreed to match the $5 million state funding 2-to-1, providing a total of $15 million for preserving Civil War sites in Virginia.
The council is a private, nonprofit organization that shares responsibility for preserving 14,000 acres of open space in a region that extends from Frederick and Warren counties in the north to Botetourt County in the south.