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38 COM�IMON GROUND VOL , 12 NO . 3 APRIL-JUNE 2001
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<br /> chigan found that prisoners The state of Maryland has begun the
<br /> A study in Mi
<br /> with a view of farmland had 24 %0 fewer sick nation ' s first tobacco buyout program that
<br /> call visits than those without the view . A encourages farmers to grow alternative
<br /> Pennsylvania study found that hospital pa - crops and enroll their land in farmland pres -
<br /> tients with window views of trees had ervation programs . The state has devoted Tobacco farmers
<br /> shorter stays and less need for medication $ 5 . 9 million of tobacco settlement funds this who enroll their
<br /> than patients whose view was a brick wall . year to pay farmers not to grow tobacco , a
<br /> And an Australian study found that heart 350 -year- old tradition in the state . Nearly land in a state or
<br /> patients with pets had lower blood pressure three- fourths of the 977 eligible tobacco collnty farmlancl
<br /> than their petless counterparts . Citing these farmers applied for the buyout, with average preservation
<br /> examples , an Emory University researcher is annual payments of $ 11 , 000 . Tobacco farm-
<br /> calling on program receive
<br /> calling
<br /> environmental health specialists ers who enroll their pr land in a state or county
<br /> who normally investigate the hazardous ef- farmland preservation program receive a a 1 0 % bonus .
<br /> fects of the environment on human health to 10 % bonus . The program offers grants to
<br /> consider that exposure to the environment support tobacco farmers who develop alter-
<br /> also may improve human health . In " Be- native crops , such as grapes or raspberries .
<br /> yond Toxicity : Human Health and the Natu -
<br /> ral Environment, which appeared in the Compelling scientific evidence now shows
<br /> April issue of the Atttericatl Journal of Preven - that protected marine reserves conserve
<br /> tine Medicine (www -east . elseviencom / ajpm ) , biodiversity and replenish the seas . " Marine
<br /> Dr . Howard Frumkin argues that human reserves work and they work fast, " said Jane
<br /> contact with the natural world may be a Lubchenco, one of 150 leading marine scien-
<br /> cheap , effective and medication- free way to tists who backed the reserves at a February
<br /> enhance health . If so, he said, the medical meeting of the American Association for the
<br /> community must broaden its vision of envi- Advancement of Science (www . aaas . org ) . � �
<br /> ronmental health to include urban and re - " It is no longer a question of whether to set It is no longer
<br /> gional planning and landscape architecture aside fully protected areas in the ocean, but qllestl0lZ Of
<br /> to help link environmental health principles where to establish them , " . she said . The sci- whether t0 Set
<br /> with large - scale environmental design . entists spent three years researching marine
<br /> reserves at the National Center for Ecological asiGle filly
<br /> A Sierra Club report compares growth Analysis and Synthesis at the University of protected areas
<br /> management approaches in Portland , Ore . , California at Santa Barbara . Although fully in the ocean , but
<br /> and Atlanta , Ga . , to demonstrate how land protected marine reserves currently encom -
<br /> use planning can make a difference . Port- pass only 1 / 100th of 1 % of the ocean, scien- where to establish
<br /> land , with an urban growth boundary that tists found that aquatic population densities them . "'
<br /> steers development inside and protects land averaged 91 % higher and species diversity —Jane Lubchenco
<br /> beyond , has seen its land area increase by 23 % higher in reserves . Key to developing a
<br /> just 2 % since the 1970s while absorbing a successful reserve network is a knowledge
<br /> population hike of 50 % . In the 1990s alone , of larval dispersal and ocean current move -
<br /> the Atlanta region has doubled in size, from ment, the scientists said . They also presented
<br /> 65 miles to 110 miles from its northern to a new computer-based tool that can help
<br /> southern edges . Atlanta ' s property taxes map and design reserve systems ,
<br /> have jumped 22 % from the mid - 1980s to the
<br /> mid -90s , while Portland ' s dropped 29 % . The On the move : David Burwell, who co -
<br /> number of vehicle miles traveled jumped founded Rails - to -Trails Conservancy and
<br /> 17% in Atlanta and just 2 % in Portland . served as its president for 15 years , left the
<br /> Ground level ozone , measured by the num- organization in February to become presi-
<br /> ber of days with unhealthy concentrations of dent and CEO of the Surface Transportation
<br /> ambient air, dropped 86 % in Portland , but Policy Project . Keith Laughlin , executive
<br /> rose 5 % in Atlanta . The report " New Re - director of the Clinton White House Task
<br /> search on Population , Suburban Sprawl and Force on Livable Communities , succeeded
<br /> Smart Growth ( sierra club . org sprawl ) , sug- Burwell at the conservancy . And Michael
<br /> gests that cutting subsidies to new develop - Finley, superintendent of Yellowstone Na -
<br /> merit and businesses coupled with creating tional Park, will leave the National Park
<br /> greenbelts to protect fragile land can curb Service to become executive director of the
<br /> sprawl and restrain population growth . Turner Foundation in Atlanta in May .
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