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Book Description
In the decades following the first Earth Day in 1970, a generation has been enlightened about the unspeakable damage done to our planet. Federal, state, and local governments generated laws and regulations to control development and protect the environment. Local governments have developed environmental standards addressing their needs. The result-an ecologically incongruous pattern of land development known as urban sprawl.Local land use planners can have a greater effect on the quality of our environment than all of the federal and state regulators combined. Historically, they have existed on the periphery of land management. The author suggests that federal and state environmental regulators need to incorporate local governments into their environmental protection plans. Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning provides easily understood, nuts and bolts solutions for controlling urban sprawl, emphasizing the integration of federal, state, and local land use plans.The book discusses ecological resources and provides practical solutions that municipal planners can implement immediately. It discusses the most recent scientific data, how to extract what is important, and how to apply it to the local land planning process. The author includes the application of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to problem solving.Despite compelling evidence and sound arguments favoring the implementation of an ecologically sensitive approach to land use planning, municipal planners, in general, remain skeptical. It will take considerably more encouragement and education to win them over completely. Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning makes the case for sound land use policies that will reduce sprawl.

"Clearly, the nation is poised on the threshold of a land planning renaissance that could significantly alter the way in which Americans in general and local governments in particular conduct the business of land use planning. This reformation should include a much greater emphasis on environmental and ecological protection, thanks to the public's indignation over the landscape evolving from the present system of land use and the concerted effort by state and federal environmental regulators to recruit and incorporate local governments into their environmental protection agendas. The motto of this reformation is simply this: "The quality of our lives is dependent upon the quality of our environment, which is dependent upon the quality of our land use." Despite all the compelling evidence and cogent arguments, both recent and historic, favoring the implementation of a more ecologically sensitive approach to land use planning, municipal planners remain frustratingly wary. It is apparent that it will take considerably more encouragement and education to win over their hearts and minds completely. This presentation is a commencement of that effort."
 
William B. Honachefsky-American Museum of Natural History
Nature in Fragments- The Legacy of Urban Sprawl 2000

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Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning
ecology.jpg
CRC Press 1-800-272-7737

The quality of our environment is based on the quality of our land use

Foreward
Preface
Why Ecologically Based Land Use?
Environmental Degradation - The Product of Land Use
Land Use and Environmental Protection - Their Origins, Philosophies, and Destinies
Comprehensive Land Use Planning - A Slow Start and Slow Acceptance
Environmental Protection - On a Parallel Course But Destined to Merge with Land Use Planning
The Making of a Land Use Philosophy
Reconciling the Master Plan and Zoning and Restoring True Home Rule
Additional Science Aids the Process
Beware the Model
Verification, Validation, and Confirmation of Numerical Models in the Earth Sciences - Guest Essay
The Value of Natural Ecosystems and Natural Resources
Setting the Values
Localizing
Private Property Rights and Public Trust Resources
Getting Ready
Getting Started
Development of the Community Wide Parcel Base Map
Include Some Historical Perspectives of the Community
Inventory and Importance of Community Resources
Analyzing the Data, Assessing Community Health and Setting Objectives and Strategies for the New Ecologically Based Municipal Master Plan
Stressor Indicators
Environmental or Exposure Indicators
Response Indicators
Analyzing the Data and Setting Objectives and Strategies
New Ideas for the New Millennium
A General Commentary on Best Management Practices
Appendices
Appendix A: Web Site Containing Environmental or Ecological Information
Appendix B: Excerpted Tables From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Exposure Factors Handbook for the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Appendix C: Example Data Available From New Jersey DEP's Natural Heritage Program
Appendix D: Excerpts From New Jersey Geological Survey's "A Method for Evaluating Ground Water Recharge Areas in New Jersey"
Appendix E: Siltation and Erosion Control Sample Products
References
Index