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Land Acquisition • Priorities for land acquisition are influenced by the cost and availability of the land. The city may need to move quickly to take advantage of land that is for sale or to acquire land that is under development pressure. The city may also have to adjust priorities to recognize land that is available to the city through the park land dedication ordinance. Some of these opportunities cannot be anticipated by the Plan and, therefore, the Plan needs to be flexible enough to accommodate changes that are beneficial to the city and compatible (though not identical)to the Plan. Funding Programs In some cases, the source of funds to implement the park and recreation system will affect the priorities. For example, federal and state park grant programs establish eligibility requirements in which they fund certain types of park facilities and not others. They also utilize a rating system for grant applications in which park facilities on their priority list (such as boat launches, water related facilities and trails) are ranked higher than other facilities (such as parking areas, play areas and picnic facilities). Economic Development Park projects are sometimes part of an overall economic development strategy where they 40 can be beneficial to the city in terms of facilitating targeted economic development projects. The downtown river walk may be an example of that type of project where, because of the positive effect on downtown development,the river walk may be given a higher priority. Natural Resources Protection of natural resources, such as woodland, wetland, native prairie, lakes, streams and rivers is an important objective of the Park and Recreation Plan. The opportunity to preserve these valuable natural resources will need to be recognized in the determination of priorities. Recreation Program Demands The demand for specific recreation programs and activities greatly affects the priorities for facilities. If there is a greater demand to participate in a program than existing facilities can accommodate, then those facilities should receive a higher priority that facilities with lesser participation. This is the case with athletic complexes. The facilities available for soccer, softball and baseball have not kept pace with the growing participation in these activities. The demand for athletic complexes is expected to continue to grow as new families locate in Elk River. S 109