On Saturday, May 9, at the 13th annual Pennsylvania Land Conservation Conference in Gettysburg, the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association awarded Northampton County with the 2015 Government Conservation Leadership Award for leadership in the conservation of particular landscapes and crucial natural resources.

Councilman Scott Parsons, farmland preservation administrator, Maria Bentzoni and Bryan Cope, open space coordinator, accepted the award on behalf of Northampton County.

"The 2015 Land Government Conservation Leadership Award is a testament to the support from Northampton's County's residents and officials and partners," said Cope. "The award shows that although development continues to grow within the county, preserving our open space, natural areas and farmland provide the quality of life that everyone enjoys. Northampton County, through multiple partnerships, continues to play a role in preserving our landscapes, creating recreational opportunities, enhancing tourism and capitalizing on the economic benefits."

Northampton County has been a leader in expanding and improving open space and recreational opportunities. Through collaboration regionally, the county and its boroughs have prioritized preserving these lands through local zoning, planning initiatives and advanced funding strategies for these initiatives.

Northampton County's 21st Century Open Space Initiative was established in 2002 to enable the preservation of natural areas, open space lands and farmland and the procurement, development and restoration of municipal parks. Since its establishment, the initiative has been awarded $5.94 million for 56 municipal park projects and $4.2 million for the preservation of 1,503 acres of natural areas and open space lands. The Farmland Preservation Program has protected 13,782 acres of farmland since 1993 and 23 miles of open multi-use trail systems in 2015. Northampton County has contributed $1 million for the procurement, development and restoration of municipal parks, $750,000 for farmland preservation and $400,000 for natural areas preservation.