Douglas County commissioners Wednesday night voiced concern about chipping in hundreds of thousands of dollars for a preservation project at Baldwin Woods, north of Baldwin City.

But commissioners indicated that preservation supporters, including the Kansas Land Trust, would likely get to make their case to commissioners in coming months.

The request for the preservation is for $464,000 total in public funds between the city and county. But commissioners said any county funding would likely need to be tied to financing that is part of any future industrial development project. Otherwise, the county is already facing tough budget decisions for 2009 based on projected revenues.

Members of ECO2, a commission appointed to assess open-space preservation and economic development, are trying to gauge support from the city and county to preserve about 250 privately owned acres of the oak-hickory forest and establish two conservation easements to protect it from further development.