Gov. Timothy M. Kaine laid out his environmental priorities in a speech delivered yesterday to the Environment Virginia Symposium in Lexington. The Virginian-Pilot has the story here.
A top goal is to protect 400,000 acres of land from development over the next four years. As reporter Scott Harper notes:
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.
To achieve the 400,000-acre goal, Kaine plans on a mixture of tax incentives for property owners and outright purchase of land. Sounds like that will put him on a collision course with his budgetary allies in the state Senate who have been striving to cap tax credits for conservation easements.
