2023 Iowa Code › Title XI - NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 465A - OPEN SPACE LANDS › Section 465A.2 - Statewide open space acquisition and protection program — objectives and agency duties.

465A.2 Statewide open space acquisition and protection program — objectives and agency duties.
1. The department of natural resources has the following duties in undertaking programs to meet the objectives stated in section 465A.1.
a. Prepare and conduct new education and awareness programs designed to create greater public understanding of the needs, issues, and opportunities for protecting the state’s significant open spaces. The department shall incorporate the recommendations of other state agencies and private sector organizations which have interests in open space protection. The department may enter into contracts with other agencies and the private sector for preparing and conducting these programs.
b. Prepare a statewide, long-range plan for the acquisition and protection of significant open space lands throughout the state as identified in section 465A.1. The department of transportation, department of economic development, and department of cultural affairs, private organizations, county conservation boards, city park and recreation departments, and the federal agencies with lands in the state shall be directly involved in preparing the plan. The plan shall include, but is not limited to, the following elements:
(1) Specific acquisition and protection needs and priorities for open space areas based on the following sequence of priorities:
(a) National.
(b) Regional.
(c) Statewide.
(d) Local.
(2) Identification of open space acquisition and protection techniques available or needed to carry out the plan.
(3) Additional education and awareness programs which are needed to encourage the acquisition and protection of areas identified in the plan.
(4) Management needs including maintenance, rehabilitation, and improvements.
(5) Funding levels needed to accomplish the statewide open space programs.
(6) Recommendations as to how federal programs can be modified or developed to assist the state’s open space programs.
c. Acquire and protect open space properties as identified by priority in the plan as funding is made available for this purpose. In acquiring and protecting open space, the department shall:
(1) Accept applications for funding assistance from federal agencies, other state agencies, regional organizations, county conservation boards, city park and recreation agencies, and private organizations with an interest in open spaces.
(2) Obtain the maximum efficiency of funds appropriated for this program through the use of acquisition and protection techniques that provide the degree of protection required at the lowest cost.
(3) Encourage the provision of supporting or matching funds; however, the absence of these funds shall not prevent the approval of those projects of clear national importance.
2. The department may enter into contracts with private consultants for preparing all or part of the plan required under subsection 1, paragraph “b”. The plan shall be submitted to the general assembly by July 1, 1988. Prior to submission of the plan to the general assembly, the department shall request comments on the proposed plan from state and federal agencies and private organizations with interests in open space protection. The comments shall be submitted to the general assembly.
3. The department may initiate pilot acquisition and protection projects prior to completion of the open space plan if the pilot projects have high national significance as identified in section 1, subsection 2.
87 Acts, ch 174, §2
CS87, §111E.2
C93, §465A.2
2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89; 2012 Acts, ch 1021, §85
Duties of former department of economic development were assumed by economic development authority beginning July 1, 2011, pursuant to 2011 Acts, ch 118