Once an urban area loses a green space, it is gone forever.  

Lions Municipal Golf course sits on 141 wooded acres in the heart of Austin. It is the home of dozens of heritage oaks, elms, and ashes, some of the best specimens found in Central Texas.

Open spaces benefit the public because they support the health of the local environment, increase the value of surrounding land, and overall enhance quality of life for the community.

Benefits include preserving water quality in creeks, springs, and aquifers, protecting habitat for rare and threatened species, and reducing the projected traffic counts on roads.

Businesses are increasingly attracted to amenities such as greenways, parks, preserves, and trails which improve the lives of their employees. To compete in the age of talent, regions must make quality-of-place a central element of the economic development efforts.

The migration of this young, well-educated entrepreneurial and computer-savvy class has helped give Austin nationwide recognition as a hot spot for the high-tech world. This new wave of residents thrives on the culture and natural beauty in Travis County. Middle and high-level executives increasingly choose to work in areas that offer a high standard of living, most importantly proximity to open space.

The presence of green space can make a difference of millions of dollars in property values. Bond rating agencies have recognized that unlimited or mismanaged growth can threaten a community's fiscal health while land conservation and sound planning can help sustain it. As a result, bond agencies have raised communities’ bond ratings because of their efforts to preserve open space.