The grant award agreement will also require the local government to commit to maintain the greenspace properties. The Greenspace statute has no effect on a county's authority to acquire land by condemnation. However, it is unlikely that condemnation would be widely used to acquire greenspace, because condemnation is politically unpopular and the state funds will fall far short of the lands available from willing landowners. No, but all of it must be permanently protected. Land in its natural state may have community value by protecting water quality, historic resources, or wildlife habitat, even if it is not available for public use.
Communities can set aside such lands as part of the development planning process.
However, for land on which public access is desired, the right to allow public use would have to be acquired by purchase or gift. The state grants will help communities purchase land or access rights in areas where public access is desired. The focus of the program is on maintaining land in a relatively natural state and on water-quality protection. Sports fields and golf courses require intensive use of fertilizer and pesticides, and they require parking areas and, often, bleachers and buildings. One of the measures that local governments can use to protect greenspace will be through contractual agreements that ensure that, if the protected status is discontinued on a parcel, such property will be replaced by other greenspace of equal or greater monetary and resource protection value.