Green Corps organizers join coalition partners in celebrating a victory for open space in Maryland.

When Partners for Open Space, a statewide coalition of groups seeking to secure, save, and protect Maryland’s land conservation programs, needed a team of organizers to mobilize grassroots support for an open space ballot measure, they called on Green Corps.

Whether the rolling mountains of Western Maryland, the working farmland in Central Maryland, or the coastal habitats of the Eastern Shore, Maryland’s open spaces are under attack from sprawling growth. Program Open Space, a state program established in 1969, is the state’s leading mechanism to protect our farms, forests and fields from development. But in recent years money from this program has been diverted for unrelated state expenses. To protect Maryland’s natural areas and the health of the Chesapeake Bay, Partners for Open Space, a 140 member coalition including Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Environment Maryland, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, and The Nature Conservancy, hired Green Corps to help launch a state-wide campaign effort to stop this raid on open space funding.

From August through December 2006, two Green Corps organizers traveled all over the state of Maryland, organizing in Baltimore, Ann Arundel, Prince George’s, and Montgomery County, as well as on the Eastern Shore, to educate 40,000 voters about the ballot measure to protect open space. The Green Corps organizers attended farmers markets, county fairs, and other community events to educate voters. In addition, the organizers attended political events such as candidate forums and fundraisers. They trained 50 community leaders how to recruit volunteers, conduct media outreach, and lobby on key issues. On Election Day, the Green Corps organizers worked with 40 citizen volunteers and educated more than 7,000 voters.

We are happy to report that on Nov. 7, the ballot measured passed by an overwhelming 85 percent, sending a clear mandate for open space conservation to elected officials. The work of the Green Corps organizers helped to mobilize the public support necessary to protect farms, parks, and open spaces for future generations.