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Comprised of 1,214 square miles, Rhode Island's
size and geographical boundaries emphasize the limited nature
of undeveloped land. Since 1964, the state has experienced a
population growth of only 16% (Grow Smart RI, 1998). However,
during this period, land consumption for residential, commercial
and industrial uses has increased by 147%, nine times faster
than the population growth. Most openspace that has been developed
has been agricultural and forestlands in rural communities throughout
the state. In the mid-nineteenth century, agricultural lands
constituted slightly over 80% of the state (Griffiths, 1965).
Over the past one hundred years the amount of statewide agricultural
lands has steadily decreased, and now constitutes roughly 7%
of the state. According to the USDA, Rhode Island's farmland
was nearly halved from 103,801 acres in 1964 to 55,256 acres
in 1997, an annual farmland consumption of roughly 1,500 acres.
Because farmland once comprised the majority
of Rhode Island, nearly all forestlands are the result of reverted
farmland. This forestland is being developed at a rate of approximately
1,400 acres per year. The development of the state's suburban
and rural areas has consumed agricultural and forestlands approximately
equal to the size of Providence within the past seven years.
Considering the historic and present trends in both population
growth and land consumption, one can clearly see that population
redistribution presents a threat to the amount of openspace
for the state of Rhode Island.
National efforts to preserve openspace commenced in 1872 when
Congress designated Yellowstone as the first national park in
the world (NPS, 1999). In1965, the Land and Water Conservation
Fund was created to provide the largest source of financial
support for park, wildlife, and open space land acquisition.
Capital from offshore oil and gas drilling constitute the majority
of the fund, with an authorized expenditure of approximately
$900 million each year. Over the years, hundreds of land protection
projects have utilized LWCF money, including national wildlife
refuges, national parks, historic sites, endangered Civil War
battlefields, and key recreational areas within national forests.
Statewide efforts to preserve openspace
did not exist until relatively recently. Since 1982, Rhode Island
voters have approved over $100 million for bond issues to fund
state programs that purchase land or acquire development rights
to openspace (RI DEM, 1990). On the municipal level, as farm
and forest lands became scarcer, Rhode Island communities began
to incorporate language into their Comprehensive Plans to addresses
the specific goals of preserving dwindling openspace lands.
For example, the town of Portsmouth's Comprehensive Plan states
that it has a goal to "maintain agriculture as a vital
part of the community, as a way of life, open space value, land
use, and economic activity (Grow Smart RI, 1998)."
Non-profit efforts to preserve openspace
are more difficult to document historically. However, conservation
groups such as the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public
Lands have been working since 1951 and 1972, respectively, to
preserve openspace. Charitable foundations, such as the Doris
Duke, which recently granted $4.7 million for the protection
of land in South County, have provided considerable support
for openspace acquisition (AP, 1999). Private land trust organizations
have grown slowly over the past 20 years, with 31 currently
active organizations in the state (Land Trust Alliance, 2000).
Comprehensive Plans and local land trusts have led the way in
Rhode Island's collective attempt at preserving openspace. Considering
that RI's more active land trusts, such as the South County
Land Trust , have only existed since the mid-90's, the issue
of organized openspace preservation is relatively new.
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