Members of Vision Dixie's executive, steering and technical committees come from various local, private enterprises and numerous public agencies. The group's primary goal is to develop a set of common goals when it comes to Washington County's future, Eardley said.

"One of the criticisms we've had is maybe we were too hasty, maybe we haven't involved enough of the general citizenry," said Eardley of the county's push to get the public lands bill passed. "We're trying to engage the public and get their input by their involvement in Vision Dixie. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out."

County commissioners recently passed a resolution in which they pledged to support any decisions made by Vision Dixie on the sale of up to 20,000 acres of public lands under the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act.

"We all have questions about the future," said Eardley. "The resolution binds the commission to the outcome of this new planning process. It's our way of showing people we're sincere and that we won't act without a large consensus."

Washington County is the fastest growing county in the nation's fifth fastest growing state. According to a news release Monday from the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, Washington County's population increase for 2005 was 8.4 percent over 2004. More than 125,000 people now call Washington County home.

For more information about Vision Dixie and a list of meeting times and locations go to visiondixie.org.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com