We all love our region. With its abundance of natural beauty, thriving cities and productive natural resources, our place and our quality of life are amongst the best in the country.  Given that, it is unsurprising our region’s economy and population are expected to grow for the foreseeable future.  Fortunately, we do not have to make a choice between growth and quality of life. The Cascade Agenda embodies this understanding, recognizing the key to ensuring a prosperous future is to conserve our important rural lands and to create vibrant, affordable communities where people choose to live and work.

This understanding is what drove Forterra to create the Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program, which with your help was passed into state law in 2011. The groundbreaking program creates incentives for both conservation and community support by combining a real estate tool called Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) with a public infrastructure financing tool called tax increment financing (TIF). The outcome?  Conservation of the farms, forests and natural areas we all appreciate and from which we benefit, as well as much-needed funding to provide the types of things like plazas, parks, sidewalks and bike lanes we need to create and support vibrant, livable cities. You can learn more about the program here.

Conserved Farms and Forests

Transfer of Development Rights provides landowners with an alternative means of realizing the development potential of their lands without developing it.  It offers landowners an option to separate the legal ability to build on their property called a “development right” and redirects that potential development to areas more suitable for population growth.

Revitalized Communities

In exchange for accepting development rights, cities will have access to financing for revitalizing and redeveloping designated districts. They will be able to bond against the future tax revenue generated by the development projects allowing them to improve essential infrastructure.

A Better Future for Our Families

The Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program is an unprecedented opportunity to link the future of our communities with the conservation of our farms and forests.  Improving our neighborhoods and saving our quintessential landscapes will improve the quality of life for our families.