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Nature-Friendly Communities presents an authoritative and readable overview of the successful approaches to protecting biodiversity and natural areas in America's growing communities. Addressing the crucial issues of sprawl, open space, and political realities, Chris Duerksen and Cara Snyder explain the most effective steps that communities can take to protect nature.

The book: documents the broad range of benefits, including economic impacts, resulting from comprehensive biodiversity protection efforts; identifies and disseminates information on replicable best community practices; establishes benchmarks for evaluating community biodiversity protection programs.

Nine comprehensive case studies of communities explain how nature protection programs have been implemented. From Austin and Baltimore to Tucson and Minneapolis, the authors explore how different cities and counties have taken bold steps to successfully protect natural areas. Examining program structure and administration, land acquisition strategies and sources of funding, habitat restoration programs, social impacts, education efforts, and overall results, these case studies lay out perfect examples that other communities can easily follow. Among the case study sites are Sanibel Island, Florida; Austin, Texas; Baltimore County, Maryland; Charlotte Harbor, Florida; and Teton County, Wyoming.

Nature-Friendly Communities offers a useful overview of the increasing number of communities that have established successful nature protection programs and the significant benefits those programs provide. It is an important new work for public officials, community activists, and anyone concerned with understanding or implementing local or regional biodiversity protection efforts.

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CHOICE Review

For conservation-minded citizens who want to convince local governments that habitat protection can be economically beneficial and politically expedient, Duerksen (land use consultant) and Snyder (independent consultant) provide summary evidence, case studies, and bibliographies for making a strong case. The authors first summarize ways in which communities have attracted business investment, realized cost savings, avoided natural disasters, increased property values, and enjoyed indirect benefits--from improved public health, enhanced community character, and affordable options for low-income citizens. They outline best practices and tools for developing and maintaining programs to preserve wildlife habitat. Then, using nine major case studies, they demonstrate how rural and urban communities nationwide have used laws and regulations, environmental assessments, mapping, business incentives, and political will to craft land use plans that encourage development while protecting biodiversity and natural resources. To further demonstrate how to tailor these plans to local conditions, they provide 11 focused case studies that highlight details of a particularly innovative or effective program element (e.g., riparian overlay, biodiversity recovery, wetlands protection). By describing the successes of communities that have sought and found solutions to problems of urban sprawl, inner-city decline, wildlife disappearances, and diminished recreational opportunities, the authors underscore the benefits of applying conservation principles to community planning efforts. Ample bibliography. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels. B. L. Shepherd University of Alaska Southeast

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Chris Duerksen is managing director of Clarion Associates, a Denver-based land use consulting firm. He is the founder, president, and chairman of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute.

Cara Snyder is an independent consultant and writer; she was formerly an associate with Clarion Associates.