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landscape architecture, geography and
<br />civil engineering contribute to the suc-
<br />cessful design and planning of green
<br />infrastructure systems. Initiatives
<br />should therefore engage and incorpo-
<br />rate the expertise of professionals from
<br />al] relevant disciplines and should be
<br />based on sound science and up to date
<br />information.
<br />Principle 6: Green infrastructure is
<br />a critical public investment.
<br />Interconnected green space systems
<br />benefit people, wildlife and the
<br />economy. More importantly, strategic
<br />placement of green infrastructure re-
<br />duces the need for gray infrastructure,
<br />freeing public funds for other commu-
<br />nity needs. Green infrastructure also
<br />reduces a community's susceptibility
<br />to floods, fires, and other natural di-
<br />sasters. Documenting these public ben-
<br />efits is an important first step towazd
<br />providing adequate funding. We need
<br />to actively promote green infrastruc-
<br />ture systems to secure the funding [o
<br />build and maintain green space sys-
<br />tems.
<br />Green infrastructure should be
<br />funded in the same way as our nation's
<br />built infrastructure-as primary bud-
<br />getary items to spread the costs of con-
<br />struction and maintenance across a
<br />large pool of users and to ensure that
<br />all parrs connect to achieve maximum
<br />functionality. While not funded at the
<br />same level as public works, states and
<br />communities have begun using conven-
<br />tional mechanisms to finance green in-
<br />frastructure projects-including bond
<br />referenda, real estate transfer taxes, lot-
<br />tery proceeds, dedicated development
<br />fees, direct appropriationsand other
<br />mechanisms.
<br />Principle 7: Green infrastructure
<br />engages key partners and involves
<br />diverse stakeholders.
<br />Green infrastructure stakeholders
<br />have diverse backgrounds and needs.
<br />Therefore, successful efforts forge al-
<br />liances and relationships between pub-
<br />lic and private organizations. A few
<br />examples of how diverse organizations
<br />have come together include:
<br />• Chicago Wilderness, a grassroots
<br />collaboration of over 100 organi-
<br />zations representing al] sectors
<br />with an interest in the region.
<br />• Keep America Growing, designed
<br />to create partnerships to balance
<br />the demands for growth and devel-
<br />opment with the protection of vi-
<br />tal working lands.
<br />• The Cooper River Wildlife Con•i-
<br />dor Initiative in South Carolina,
<br />which uses an agreement for com-
<br />mon land management practices
<br />with DuPont, Amoco, Medway
<br />Plantations, Cypress Gardens, and
<br />[he Francis Marion National For-
<br />est.
<br />Conclusion
<br />Every state and local government
<br />has along-range transportation plan.
<br />Growing communities also have de-
<br />tailed plans for improving their air-
<br />ports, sewage treatment plants, tele-
<br />communications facilities and other
<br />public infrastructure. Just as these com-
<br />munities need to upgrade and expand
<br />their gray infrastructure, they need
<br />plans to upgrade and expand their green
<br />infrastructure.
<br />Green infrastructure plans provide a
<br />blueprint for conservation in the same
<br />way that long-range transportation
<br />plans provide a blueprint for future
<br />roads or transit lines. Green infraswc-
<br />ture plans can create a framework for
<br />future growth while ensuring that sig-
<br />nificant natural resources will be pre-
<br />servedfor future generations. They can
<br />even reduce opposition to new devel-
<br />opment by assuring civic groups and
<br />environmental organizations that
<br />growth will occur only within a frame-
<br />work of expanded conservation and
<br />open space lands.
<br />Savvy states and communities are
<br />starting to think about green space in a
<br />more thoughtful and systematic way.
<br />They realize that green infrastructure
<br />is not a frill-it is smart conservation
<br />for the twenty-first century.
<br />Endnotes
<br />' Charles E. Little, Greenways for
<br />America, The Johns Hopkins Uni-
<br />versity Press, Baltimore and Lon-
<br />don,1989.
<br />~ The President's Council on Sustain-
<br />ableDevelopment, Towards a Sus-
<br />tainable America-Advancing
<br />Prosperity, Opportunity, and a
<br />Healthy Environment for the 21"
<br />Century, U.S. Govemmen[ Print-
<br />ing Office, 1999.
<br />' United Slates Department of Agriwl-
<br />ture, Namra] Resource Conserva-
<br />tion Service, National Resources
<br />Inventory, revised December 2000
<br />(available at www.nres.usda.gov/
<br />technical/NRI/1997/
<br />summary_repoNindex. html).
<br />° United States Census Bureau and
<br />Department of Health and Urban
<br />Development, American Housing
<br />Survey, 1997.
<br />William Fulton, Rolf Pendal1, Mai
<br />Nguyen and Alicia Harrison, Who
<br />Sprawls Most? How Crowth Pat-
<br />terns Differ Across the U.S., The
<br />Brookings Institution, Survey Se-
<br />ries, July 2001 (available at
<br />www. brook.edu/dybdocroot/ur-
<br />ban/fulton-pendall. htm).
<br />c Fen Montaigne. "There Goes the
<br />Neighborhood,"Audubon, Mazch-
<br />April 2000.
<br />'Chicago Wilderness, Summary of the
<br />Biodiversity Recovery Plan, 1999
<br />(available at http://
<br />www.chicagowilderness.org/
<br />index.cfm).
<br />s American Farmland Trust, see
<br />ww w. keepamericagro w i ng, org.
<br />AUTUMN 2002 RENEWABLE RESOURCES JOURNAL 17
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