Regional Planning for a Sustainable America
Regional Planning for a Sustainable America

Author: Carleton K. Montgomery

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2011-10-19

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 0813552141

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Regional Planning for a Sustainable America is the first book to represent the great variety of today’s effective regional planning programs, analyzing dozens of regional initiatives across North America. The American landscape is being transformed by poorly designed, sprawling development. This sprawl—and its wasteful resource use, traffic, and pollution—does not respect arbitrary political boundaries like city limits and state borders. Yet for most of the nation, the patterns of development and conservation are shaped by fragmented, parochial local governments and property developers focused on short-term economic gain. Regional planning provides a solution, a means to manage human impacts on a large geographic scale that better matches the natural and economic forces at work. By bringing together the expertise of forty-two practitioners and academics, this book provides a practical guide to the key strategies that regional planners are using to achieve truly sustainable growth.

The Pine Barrens
The Pine Barrens

Author: John McPhee

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 1968-05-12

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 0374233608

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Most people think of New Jersey as a suburban-industrial corridor that runs between New York and Philadelphia. Yet in the low center of the state is a near wilderness, larger than most national parks, which has been known since the seventeenth century as the Pine Barrens. The term refers to the predominant trees in the vast forests that cover the area and to the quality of the soils below, which are too sandy and acid to be good for farming. On all sides, however, developments of one kind or another have gradually moved in, so that now the central and integral forest is reduced to about a thousand square miles. Although New Jersey has the heaviest population density of any state, huge segments of the Pine Barrens remain uninhabited. The few people who dwell in the region, the "Pineys," are little known and often misunderstood. Here McPhee uses his uncanny skills as a journalist to explore the history of the region and describe the people—and their distinctive folklore—who call it home.

At the Glacier’s Edge
At the Glacier’s Edge

Author: Betsy McCully

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2024-05-17

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 197883893X

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Vast salt marshes, ancient grasslands, lush forests, pristine beaches and dunes, and copious inland waters, all surrounded by a teeming sea. These are probably not the first things you imagine when you think of Long Island, but just beyond its highways and housing developments lies a stunning landscape full of diverse plant and animal life. Combining science writing, environmental history, and first-hand accounts from a longtime resident, At the Glacier’s Edge offers a unique narrative natural history of Long Island. Betsy McCully tells the story of how the island was formed at the end of the last ice age, how its habitats evolved, and how humans in the last few hundred years have radically altered and degraded its landscape. Yet as she personally recounts the habitat losses and species declines she has witnessed over the past few decades, she describes the vital efforts that environmental activists are making to restore and reclaim this land—from replanting salt marshes, to preserving remaining grasslands and forests, to cleaning up the waters. At the Glacier’s Edge provides an in-depth look at the flora, fauna and geology that make Long Island so special.

Whispers in the Pines
Whispers in the Pines

Author: Joanna Burger

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 0813537940

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In this book, naturalist Joanna Burger takes us on a series of delightful trips through the Pine Barrens. From the Albany Pine Bush, the Long Island Barrens, and the New Jersey Pine Barrens in the Northeast, to the pinelands of South Carolina and Florida, Burger describes in lively detail how these habitats have come to harbor such a unique assemblage of species. She introduces us to amphibians and reptiles, neotropical migrants and other birds, and a range of common and unusual mammals. Burger also traces the regions' historic and geologic backgrounds, and the impact of human occupation from the time of the paleo-Indians to the present. She revisits the tension between development and preservation, reminding us that a healthy pine barren region requires uninterrupted land and rejuvenating fires, both of which are increasingly jeopardized. Whispers in the Pines is essential reading for everyone concerned with the history and preservation of these unique landscapes and their wildlife.

Open Ground
Open Ground

Author: John R. Nolon

Publisher: Environmental Law Institute

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 622

ISBN-13: 9781585760558

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The preservation of open space has captured the public's imagination. Disappearance of open space is associated with the general degradation of the quality of community life, and in a broader sense, what is happening to open space is what is happening to the local environment. Despite this reality, there is no comprehensive source of information about strategies available to localities to protect the environment. Open Ground: Effective Local Strategies for Protecting Natural Resources is designed to fill that void. It is offered with the knowledge that properly drafted land use ordinances, land acquisition programs, and smart growth strategies can protect critical landscapes and valued natural resources.

The TDR Handbook
The TDR Handbook

Author: Arthur C. Nelson

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2013-02-22

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1610911598

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"Transfer of Development Rights" (TDR) programs allow local governments to put economic principles to work in encouraging good land use planning. TDR programs most often permit landowners to forfeit development rights in areas targeted for preservation and then sell those development rights to buyers who want to increase the density of development in areas designated as growth areas by local authorities. Although TDR programs must conform to zoning laws, they provide market incentives that make them more equitable (and often more lucrative) for sellers and frequently benefit buyers by allowing them to receive prior approval for their high-density development plans. Since the 1970s when modern TDR applications were first conceived, more than 200 communities in 33 states across the U.S. have implemented TDR-based programs. The most common uses of TDR to date involve protecting farmland, environmentally sensitive land, historic sites, and "rural character," and urban revitalization. Until now, however, there has never been a clearly written, one-volume book on the subject. At last, The TDR Handbook provides a comprehensive guide to every aspect of TDR programs, from the thinking behind them to the nuts and bolts of implementation-including statutory guidance, model ordinances, suggestions for program administration, and comparisons with other types of preservation programs. In addition, six of its twenty chapters are devoted to case studies of all major uses to which TDR programs have been utilized to date, including recent urban revitalization projects that utilize TDR principles.