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and protecting watershed land in the
<br />Catskill Mountains for about 51.5 billion.
<br />HOW CAN A COMMUNITY CREATE
<br />GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE?
<br />Green infrastructure is being created
<br />at all scales: state, regional, metropolitan
<br />area, and local community Green infra-
<br />structure networks can be divided into
<br />three separate but interrelated compo-
<br />nents: ecological networks, working
<br />landscapes, and outdoor recreation and
<br />trail networks. Florida's statewide green-
<br />ways plan uses an integrated landscape
<br />approach to identify an ecological net-
<br />work oC natural hubs, Linkages, river cor-
<br />ridors, and coastlines - as well as a
<br />recreational/trail system connecting
<br />parks, urban areas, and cultural sites.
<br />Maryland, the state which the Sierra
<br />Club ranks first in open space protection,
<br />has developed a "green infrastructure
<br />assessment system" to help identify and
<br />prioritize areas for conservation and
<br />restoration. The goal of this system is to
<br />target areas of greatest statewide ecologi-
<br />cal importance as well as areas under the
<br />most intense development pressure. The
<br />state has also established a Rural Legacy
<br />Program that is working to create strate-
<br />gic open space reserves with an emphasis
<br />on greenways, greenbelts, and agricultur-
<br />alpreservation districts.
<br />At the local level, different communi-
<br />ties have taken different approaches to
<br />green space protection. The town of
<br />Pittsford, New York, population 25,000,
<br />provides a good illustration of how a
<br />small community can create a network of
<br />green space. Pittsford, a 24 square mile
<br />suburb o[ Rochester, has implemented an
<br />award winning green infrastructure plan
<br />that grew out of a concern with [he loss
<br />of its agricultural and green space
<br />resources.
<br />Pittsford's "Greenprint" plan began
<br />with a community visioning process that
<br />identified the working agricultural and
<br />natural landscapes that were an essential
<br />part of the town's character. In 1993,
<br />Pittsford commissioned a fiscal analysis
<br />of the revenues and expenses associated
<br />with existing and potential land uses.
<br />The analysis demonstrated that it would
<br />be less expensive to implement a new
<br />land use plan rather than continue the
<br />current zoning policy
<br />The proposed plan targeted 2,000
<br />acres of land for permanent protection
<br />while also creating several enhanced eco-
<br />nomic development sites for commercial
<br />and light industrial expansion. The com-
<br />munity supported the plan, recognizing
<br />that protection of open space, including
<br />purchase of development rights, would
<br />cost taxpayers less per year than full build
<br />out of the town. Landowners supported
<br />the plan because they were compensated
<br />for the loss of their development rights.
<br />Pittsford's plan is one model for small
<br />communities on the metropolitan fringe.
<br />But savvy communities of all sizes are
<br />starting to think systematically and long
<br />term about green space. They realize that
<br />green space is not afrill - it is a basic com-
<br />munity building block.
<br />Edward McMahon is a ~,,1 ; !^^°
<br />land use planner, attorney, ;i,~ir ,
<br />and director of The Con
<br />nervation Fund's °Amert
<br />can Greenways Program."
<br />He is Jormer president of
<br />Scenic America, a national
<br />non-profit organization
<br />devoted to protecting
<br />America's scenic landscapes. McMahoni column
<br />appears regularly in the PCJ.
<br />Resources:
<br />~Greenways for America by
<br />Charles Litde. John Hop-
<br />kins Press, 1990, 1995. The First compre-
<br />hensive book on greenways. Discusses
<br />their origins and history. Details their
<br />benefits. Describes model projects from
<br />coast-to-coast riparian greenways, paths
<br />and trails, wildlife movement corridors,
<br />heritage corridors, and meuopoBtan
<br />greenway systems.
<br />Geenways: AGuide to Planning
<br />Design, Design, and Development by
<br />Chuck Flink, Loring Schwarz, and Robert
<br />Seams. Island Press, 1993. A "soup-to-
<br />nuts" guide to the practical issues
<br />involved m planning and designing
<br />greenways and trails. Offers guidance on
<br />the overall process of greenway creation
<br />while detailing each step along the way
<br />Haw Geenways Worh: A Handbooh on
<br />Ecology by Jonathan Labaree. National
<br />Park Setvice and the Athmtic Center for
<br />the Environment, 1993. This handbook
<br />inuoduces readers to the ecological
<br />dimensions of green infrastructure, Din-
<br />cusses the ecological impacts of land
<br />development and thefuncuons of cord-
<br />dors.
<br />Landscape Ecology Principles in Land-
<br />scope Architecture and Land Use Planning,
<br />by Wenche Dramstead;]ames Olson, and
<br />Richard Forman. Island Press, 1996. This-
<br />book stunmarizes principles of landscape.:
<br />ecology and planning over a range of spa-
<br />riot scales.
<br />AB of these publications are available
<br />from The Conservation Fund§, American
<br />Greenwayss Frogtam, 1800 N. Kent Street,
<br />Suite 1120, Arlington, VA 22209, 703-
<br />525-6300. The Fund, in partnetship with
<br />the U.S. Forest Service, is also developing
<br />a pflot course on Green In&astmcmre
<br />for elected officials and natural resource
<br />professionals to be offered at the National
<br />Conservation Training Center (NCTC)
<br />in Shepherdstown, West Puginia next
<br />Winter. For more in(ormadon contact
<br />Dc Mark Benedict a[ [he NCTC,
<br />304-876-7461.
<br />PLANNING COMMISSIONERS JOURNAL / NUMBER 37 / WINTER 2000
<br />
<br />Building a greenway in GeorgiaY Amicalola Falls
<br />State Parh off the Appalachian Trail.
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