The Georgia

Greenspace Commission met before the news conference and approved grants

to three counties and several municipalities. The funds will help the

local governments acquire and permanently protect green space.

The approved

grants are to:

- Coweta

County, $319,545; Grantville, $5,518; Newnan, $63,679; Senoia, $6,868;

and Sharpsburg, $1,390.

- Floyd

County, Cave Spring and Rome jointly, $301,729.

- Newton

County, Covington, Mansfield, Newborn, Oxford and Porterdale jointly:

$280,223.

- City

of Decatur (DeKalb County): $96,910.- City of Riverdale (Clayton

County): $35,065.

The grants

approved to date exceed $12.1 million, or 40 percent of the state's first-year

funding. Thirteen counties and 41 cities are now approved for funding.

The commission had at previous meetings approved programs prepared by

Bibb, Chatham, Clayton, DeKalb, Douglas, Effingham, Forsyth, Gwinnett,

Jackson and Richmond counties and their participating cities.

To qualify

for funding, Georgia's urban or rapidly developing counties must submit

greenspace programs to the State. The counties must commit to preserve

at least 20 percent of their geographic areas as open and connected green

space, which can be used for recreational activities and protection of

natural resources. Green space consists of permanently protected land

and water that protects water quality, scenic areas, wildlife habitat,

historic resources or recreational opportunities such as jogging, biking,

walking, camping, boating, hunting and fishing.

Forty Georgia

counties are eligible to receive grants from the Georgia Greenspace Program

during fiscal year 2001, which ends June 30. These counties have a population

of at least 60,000 or an average annual growth rate of 800 people. The

General Assembly appropriated $30 million for green space grants during

FY-2001. The counties' grant shares are proportional to their tax digests

of residential real property.

Five counties

may receive more than one million dollars apiece: Fulton, $5.3 million;

Cobb, $3.6 million; DeKalb and Gwinnett, $3.3 million each; and Chatham,

$1.1 million.

A city is eligible

for state funding if it is within a participating county and if it elects

to participate in the county's program. A city typically receives a share

of the county's grant award that is proportional to the city's share of

the county's population.