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COMMON GROUND VOL. 12 NO. 5 OCTOBER DECEMBER 2001
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<br /> IS M A L L
<br /> The West developed land far more effi- Dramatic increases have occurred since
<br /> The Conservation Fund ciently from 1982 to 1997 than any other re- 1992 in the use of wetland mitigation bank-
<br /> Vital Statistics gion in the country, according to a report by ing to offset wetlands lost to development .
<br /> Land protected by TCF the Brookings Institution . In 1997, 10 of the At least 200 wetland banks now operate in
<br /> and partners, 2001 : 15 most densely populated metro areas in 41 states, up from 46 banks nationwide a de-
<br /> Acres protected: 278,092 the U. S . were in California, Nevada and cade ago . The Environmental Law Institute,
<br /> Est. value, $206,030,239 Arizona, according to "Who Sprawls Most? which has released preliminary findings of
<br /> Cumulative land protected, How Growth Patterns Differ Across the its new Wetland Mitigation Banking Study
<br /> 1985-2001 , by TCF and U. S . " (free, 202 / 797- 6139, www . brookings , (www2 . ell . org / wmb) , is seeking to deter-
<br /> partners : edu / urban) . Researchers determined densi- mine the impact of the huge increase in wet-
<br /> Acres protected : 3,191 ,734 ties by dividing the population of metro land banking . One change since ELI' s .last
<br /> Est. value : $ 1 ,538,429,448 areas by the amount of urbanized land as study in 1993 : banks have changed from be-
<br /> TCF' s average annual fund- reported in the National Resources Inven- ing mostly publicly owned and intended for
<br /> IN raising expense: tort' (www . nhq. nres . usda . gov /NRI) , the sur- a single user to a mix of public and private
<br /> 1 % of total income vey of land use conducted every five years banks intended for multiple users . In 1992,
<br /> The Conservation Fund by the Natural Resources Conservation more than 40 % of the wetland mitigation
<br /> is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit Service . Among many surprising findings : banks in the country were located in Califor-
<br /> organization established to Los Angeles is more densely populated than nia and Florida . Louisiana now leads the
<br /> advance land and water New York, Las Vegas led 280 other metro ar- nation in wetland banks, with 55 approved
<br /> conservation in America.
<br /> The Fund is a member of eas by increasing its population density by banks and 21 more in development. Califor-
<br /> Earth Share and participates 50 % between 1982 and 1997, and metro areas nia has 35 banks approved or under consid-
<br /> in the Combined Federal with large shares of foreign-born residents eration . Also ranking high are Florida,
<br /> Campaign as #0930 . had much higher densities in 1997 and Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Virginia . Later
<br /> sprawled less from 1982 to 1997 than cities this year, ELI expects to create a searchable
<br /> with smaller percentages of immigrants . database of wetland banks on its Web site .
<br /> O.Earth Share It will publish the final results of its wetland
<br /> The Agriculture Department needs to bank study early next year, with analysis,
<br /> Conservation Leadership spend more than $2 billion to meet the de- case studies and recommendations for im
<br /> Courses mand for conservation programs that protect proving wetland banking .
<br /> "Gateway Communities : farmland, restore wetlands, enhance wildlife
<br /> Keys to Success" unterac- habitat and improve water quality, accord- The Society for the Protection of New
<br /> tive TV workshop), Dec . 6, ing to a new study by an environmental coa- Hampshire Forests has set a goal of protect-
<br /> 2001 . 304 / 876-7462 * lition seeking more conservation funding in ing nearly 40 % of the state' s land by 2025
<br /> "GIS Design for Regional the Farm Bill . Nine of every 10 farmers and through the conservation of an additional
<br /> Conservation Planning;' ranchers offering to preserve open space by 1 million acres of the most significant natu-
<br /> March 11 -15, 2002; Nov. selling development rights are being rejected ral areas . The proposal, announced Sept. 22
<br /> 18-221 20020 because of inadequate funding of the Farm- at a meeting celebrating the group' s 1001h
<br /> Shepherdstown, W.Va . land Protection Program, according to "Los- anniversary, was outlined in a white paper,
<br /> 304 / 876-7452 . ing Ground" (www . environmentaldefense . "New Hampshire Everlasting: an Initiative
<br /> "The Practice of Environ- Org, 202 / 387-3500), a state-by-state analysis to Conserve Our Quality of Life" (free, 603 /
<br /> mentally Sensitive Devel- of conservation backlogs . More than 3,000 224-9945, www. spnhf. org) . The plan env'i-
<br /> opment," March 21-221 farmers offering to restore 500,000 acres of sions a connected statewide system of con-
<br /> 2002, Orlando, Fla . ; April wetlands aren' t receiving funding . And 70 % servation land focused on protection of farm
<br /> 11 -12, 2002, Chicago, Ill. ; of farmers and ranchers seeking federal and forestry land, community trails and
<br /> April 29-30, 2002; Vienna,
<br /> Va. 800 / 321 -5011 , funds to improve water quality also come up parks, wildlife habitat and land surrounding
<br /> empty-handed each year. At the same time, drinking water supplies . New Hampshire
<br /> "GIS Overview for Com- more than 90 % of federal farm payments currently has 1 . 3 million acres of conserva-
<br /> munity-Based Natural ,� provide income subsidies to the one-third of tion land, nearly half of which is in White
<br /> Resource Conservation, U. S . farmers who grow commodity crops Mountain National Forest . The state, the
<br /> April 19-21 , 2002 .
<br /> 304 / 876-74526 such as corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and fastest growing in the Northeast, expects to
<br /> rice . Five of the largest agricultural states— absorb 400, 000 more people by 2020 . Inter-
<br /> Florida, California, New York, North Caro- national Paper announced in July it planned
<br /> lina and Pennsylvania—receive just 6 % of to sell its 171 ,500-acre holding in the state .
<br /> federal farm spending although they account The forest society is helping develop a con-
<br /> for 29 % of the gross revenue earned by farm- servation plan for the land, the largest block
<br /> ers and ranchers, according to the study . of private forestland in New Hampshire .
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