THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD STATEMENT NO. 34 AND ITS APPLICABILITY TO NATURAL SYSTEMS Prepared by The Center for Neighborhood Technology and Urban Logic, Inc.

 THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD STATEMENT NO. 34 AND ITS APPLICABILITY TO NATURAL SYSTEMS

Prepared by The Center for Neighborhood Technology and Urban Logic, Inc.

The capital represented by our natural environment is a critical asset that is methodically ignored or assumed to be priced at zero dollars (free).  A new government accounting rule can help capture many of the previously “hidden” assets provided by the natural environment, such as natural systems for flood mitigation and stormwater runoff control, and incorporate them into city and state financial statements.  The Center for Neighborhood Technology and Urban Logic, Inc. are developing tools to benchmark the local and regional economic benefits of the urban forest and other types of green infrastructure, and suggest how the bond markets can take these values explicitly into account in underwriting, portfolio and project finance settings.  

Background: The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is a private, non-profit, accounting standards organization, which develops objective accounting and financial reporting standards for government (www.gasb.org).

In 1999, the GASB issued Statement No. 34: Basic Financial Statements—and Management's Discussion and Analysis (GASB-34), requiring governments to provide a comprehensive view of their overall economic resources and long-term requirements, including the “wear and tear” and expense of capital assets over their useful lives.  Infrastructure building and maintenance (roads, bridges, stadiums, schools, etc.) represents more than half of most state and local government budgets.  Parks, wetlands and other natural infrastructures are not specifically mentioned but are covered by the rule.

More than 88,000 state and local governments are subject to GASB-34.  Large governments with annual revenues exceeding $100 million are scheduled to implement the new rules for fiscal years ending after June 15, 2002; small units with annual revenue below $10 million are slated for years ending after June 15, 2004.  In addition, governments have an additional four years beyond the deadlines to include infrastructure assets retroactively.

One of the bond rating agencies, Fitch IBCA, has already signaled that “issuers that are early implementers…will receive additional management credit in Fitch rating analyses as part of a continued focus on positive management practices.”

Although governments are not required to implement GASB-34 using geographic information systems (GIS), by utilizing a spatial framework, this information could not only correct mismatches between existing demand and proposed new investment, but also reveal decisions to defer regular maintenance and upkeep of infrastructure and buildings.  The experience of one early implementer is instructive.  Clark County, Nevada (which includes Las Vegas), found that utilizing GIS to comply with GASB-34 not only resulted in a more comprehensive assessment of the County’s infrastructure assets, but also cost 21 percent less than was budgeted.  The County hired a consultant to collect infrastructure data for transfer into various database management systems including the county's GIS. Data collection focused on pavements, signs and supports, curb and gutter, drop inlets, sidewalks and wheel chair ramps, medians, and bicycle paths.  The project proved that mass infrastructure data collection could be both efficient and accurate, using the combination of state-of-the-art voice-to-data technology and experienced field and project management personnel. The rapid turnaround and usability of accurate field data, for database and GIS building and decision-making, results in a higher return on investment for the end user.

GIS allows us to document and map the presence of underutilized infrastructure capacity in a region.  We can then identify the “carrying capacity” of that infrastructure -- that is, what’s already available for infill and redevelopment.  Then, we can compare the value of the underused parts of the system to the cost of building new infrastructure in unbuilt, or greenfield areas.  Finally, we can identify corridors composed of two or more jurisdictions where the kinds of accounting called for present an explicit incentive to cooperate around smart growth.  Appropriate financial incentives and strategies might then lead to more responsible choices.

GASB-34 AND NATURAL CAPITAL

The capital represented by our natural environment is a critical asset that is methodically ignored or assumed to be priced at zero dollars (free).  The Center for Neighborhood Technology and Urban Logic, Inc., believe that GASB-34 can help capture many of the previously “hidden” assets provided by the natural environment, such as natural systems for flood mitigation and stormwater runoff control, and incorporate them into city and state financial statements.  What’s needed are tools to benchmark the local and regional economic benefits of the urban forest and other types of green infrastructure, and suggest how the bond markets can take these values explicitly into account in underwriting, portfolio and project finance settings.  

Using natural capital figures, two scenarios can be developed: one in which the long-term maintenance costs of traditional roads and sewers are played out.  The second would juxtapose the long-term maintenance of using green infrastructure to reduce storm-water carrying capacity at sewage facilities, or the impact of different paving materials on storm-water runoff and long-term road viability.

Ecosystem services have option values that can be exercised in the future if protected.  The greater the protection, the greater the number of future options.  An accounting system that places a value on these services would reflect damage to natural capital and capture its current and future economic value.  

For more information:

Scott Bernstein, President Bruce Cahan Dean Michael Mead

Karen Hobbs, Senior Fellow President Project Manager

Center for Neighborhood Technology Urban Logic, Inc. Government Accounting

2125 West North Avenue 1330 Avenue of the Americas Standards Board Suite 2200 401 Merrit 7

P. O. Box 5116

Chicago, IL  60647 New York, NY  10019 Norwalk, CT  06856-5116

773-278-4800 212-399-9700 203-847-0700, ext. 294

scott@cnt.org (ext. 135) bcahan@urbanlogic.org dmmead@gasb.org

karen@cnt.org (ext. 151)

www.cnt.org www.urbanlogic.org www.gasb.org

DYKE MARSH REMARKS

DYKE MARSH REMARKS

REMARKS—GLENN EUGSTER
3-21-2006

GOOD EVENING.  WELCOME TO THE DC ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL AND THE KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.  TONIGHT IS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF “ON THE EDGE—THE POTOMAC RIVER DYKE MARSH”, A FILM PRODUCED BY VIRGINIA VILLAGE PRODUCTIONS.

TONIGHT IS A SPECIAL NIGHT.  DAVE ECKERT, MICHAEL HAMILTON, KARL KALBAUGH AND TONY MARTUCCI ARE ABOUT TO TAKE YOU INTO DYKE MARSH THROUGH THEIR EYES AND THE EYES OF MANY OTHERS.  IT WILL REINFORCE HOW TRULY UNIQUE AND SIGNIFICANT THIS DYKE MARSH IS.  IT WILL ALSO REVEAL THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE WITHIN THIS 327-ACRE WETLAND ALONG THE POTOMAC RIVER IN VA.   

OUR GATHERING IS TIMELY.  AS WE DISCUSS DYKE MARSH TONIGHT PLEASE REALIZE THAT WE CONTINUE TO LOSE 28-43 ACRES OF GREEN SPACE EACH DAY WITHIN THE METROPOLITAN REGION.

FIRST, THANKS TO MICKEY BERRA AND NANCY DEPASTINO OF THE KENNEDY CENTER FOR MAKING THIS SPACE AVAILABLE.  ONE NEED ONLY LOOK OUT THE BALCONY TO UNDERSTAND THE APPRECIATION THE KENNEDY CENTER HAS FOR THE POTOMAC.

THANKS TO THE FRIENDS OF DYKE MARSH FOR WORKING TO PROTECT DYKE MARSH, SUPPORTING THIS FILM AND THIS AMAZING TEAM OF FILMAKERS.

THANKS TO THE MCK ART OUTREACH PROJECT FOR THEIR FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

DALE MEADEARIS, A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE OF MINE, INTRODUCED ME TO THE WORK OF LUCKAS BECKMANN.  IN A PAPER CALLED CREATIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY LUKAS BECKMANN WROTE---“WE NEED NEW SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE SO THAT WORDS DO NOT BECOME MORE AND MORE DEVOID OF MEANING”.  

THANKS TO THE DC ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL FOR USING NEW SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE TO CELEBRATE THE BEAUTY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR ENVIRONMENT AND PROMOTING ADVOCACY FOR RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP..

WE AT THE NPS APPRECIATE YOUR INTEREST IN AND COMMITMENT TO DYKE MARSH.  WE BELIEVE THAT IT IS ONLY THROUGH OUR COMBINED EFFORTS THAT WE CAN PROTECT AND RESTORE THE LIVING RESOURCES OF THIS UNIQUE FRESHWATER TIDAL MARSH.

THE LATE Alan Gussow, a PAINTER AND AVID ENVIRONMENTALIST WHOSE WORK ON THE HDUSON RIVER HELPED TO ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING SCENIC BEAUTY, has said that “A place is a piece of the whole environment that has been claimed by feelings”.  PLEASE JOIN ME TO WELCOME THE LEADER OF THE COMMUNITY GROUP THAT CLAIMED DYKE MARSH THIRTY YEARS AGO.   ED EDER, PRESIDENT OF THE FRIENDS OF DYKE MARSH.

FOLLOWING THE FILM

HATS-OFF TO DAVE, MICHAEL, KARL AND TONY.  THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR 

I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED ON THE EDGE AS MUCH AS I DID.  

BEFORE WE GIVE YOU AND OPORTUNITY TO TALK WITH DAVE, THE OTHER FILM MAKERS, AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THE FILM, NPS WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO  RECOGNIZE OUR PARTNER—THE FRIENDS OF DYKE MARSH.  

ONE OF THE ACTORS FROM THE FILM, AND AN ADVOCATE FOR DYKE MARSH, IS Brent Steury.  bRENT IS A SUPERVISORY Biologist AND Natural Resources Program Manager AT THE George Washington Memorial PARKWAY PARK Headquarters.  PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING BRENT WHO WILL MAKE THE PRESENTATION TO THE FRIENDS OF DYKE MARSH.

A Film on Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve

You are invited to see

On the Edge

     a new documentary film about          

Northern Virginia’s

       

Dyke Marsh 

      Wildlife Preserve

March 21, 7 p.m., John F. Kennedy Center premiere, at the D.C. Environmental Film Festival, Washington, D. C.; free

March 28, 7:30 p.m., Old Town Theater, 815 King Street, Alexandria; $5.00

On the Edge explores the history of Dyke Marsh, its birds, fish, plants and other natural resources, and its value.  The film examines the threats to the marsh and opportunities for conservation.  It includes comments by U. S. Virginia Senator John Warner and U. S. Virginia Congressman Jim Moran, among others.  

For more information,  visit the Friends of Dyke Marsh website at www.fodm.org or the DC Environmental film festival at

www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org

The Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, just south of Alexandria on the western shoreline of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, is a one of the largest naturally-occurring freshwater tidal marshes in the national park system.  A 380-acre wetland, Dyke Marsh is a remnant of the extensive marshes that once lined the river but have been lost to human activity.  Congress preserved it in 1959, saying that here, wildlife values should be “paramount.”   Naturalist Louis Halle wrote in the 1940s that Dyke Marsh was “the nearest thing to primeval wilderness in the immediate vicinity of the city [Washington].”

To get to Dyke Marsh:  Travel south on George Washington Memorial Parkway past Old Town Alexandria; turn left at signs for Belle Haven Marina/Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve 

2005 White House Conference Participation Nominees

2005 White House Conference Participation Nominees

Glenn Eugster, Partnerships Office, NPS-NCR

February 21, 2005

• Margaret Maizel, Director, ONEIMAGE, LLC. 

1810 Linden Lake Road, Fort Collins, Colorado,80524

Phone:  (970) 407-0506; FAX: (970) 407-0512;Cell:  

(970) 227-4703

Co-author of Washington Post Study, “Green, More or Less” which shows impacts of land use change on green space.  Assists communities and private coroprations to use Geographic Information Systems to make better decisions.

• Nancy Stahoviak, County Commissioner Routt County, Colorado. 

P.O. Box 35 773598, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477; (970)879-0108

Successfully working with landowners to conserve lands.  Project is a nationally recognized sustainable development model.

• Robert E. Engstrom, Robert Engstrom Properties, 4801 West 81^st

Street, Suite 101, Minneapolis, MN 55437 (612)893-1001

For more than 45 years this nationally recognized developer has championed projects that embrace open space, preserve natural features, and are minimally disruptive to the natural order.  Noteworthy residential and neighborhood projects include the Fields of St. Croix and Summit Place, both recognized by the Urban Land Institute.

• Blaine Bonham, Director, Pennsylvania Horticulture Society’s 

City Green Program, Philadelphia, PA.  100 North 20^th Street, 5^th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1495.

One of the leaders of the oldest horticulture society in America.  A pioneer of city greening efforts and urban parks and neighborhood revitalization.

• Andy Lipkis, Executive Director, Tree People, Los Angeles, CA.

Tree People, 12601 Mulholland Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

(818)753-4600

A national leader in trees, green space restoration, education and water conservation.  Has developed cost-benefit models to show how conservation is economically possible.

• Leslie Sauer, Practitioner, formerly of Andropoggon 

Associates, Hunterdon County, NJ. Andropogon Associates,

10 Shurs Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19127 

Leading expert in ecological design solutions to development.  Specializes in use of native plants and working with nature.

• Anne Whiston Spirn, Professor and Practitioner, Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA., 36 Maolis Road, Nahant, MA 01908

International leader in ecological planning and design of projects involving community leaders and youth.  Recent work in West Philadelphia is especially noteworthy.

• Ann Swanson, Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission

60 West Street, Suite 200, Annapolis, MD 21401; 410-263-3420;

FAX 410-263-9338; Cell 410-507-0857

Leading advocate of the internationally recognized Chesapeake Bay effort.  Expert in community-based approaches to integrating ecological, cultural and economic objectives and finding ways to balance science, politics, and civic engagement

• Robert Yaro, Executive Director, Regional Plan Association, 

New York, New York, 4 Irving Place, 7^th Floor, New York, NY 10003; (202)253-2727

Nationally recognized expert in heritage areas, regional development and conservation strategies.  Work in Connecticut River Valley has been used as a model globally.

• Frederick Steiner, Dean, School of Architecture, University of 

Texas  Goldsmith Hall, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1160

One of the leading advocates for community-based regional planning and sustainable development.  Merges research and academic study with applied best practices.  Has assisted state, local and private sector projects across the U.S.

• Fred LeBlanc, Environmental Planner, The Woodlands Operating 

Company L.P. 2201 Timberloch Place, The Woodlands, Texas 77381. (281)719-6121

One of the first private natural/ green infrastructure efforts in the US.  As a result of the integration between nature and the economy The Woodlands is one of the most desired residential and commercial communities in Texas. 

• Steve Gordon, Lane Council of Governments, West Eugene, 

Oregon. Lane Council of Governments, 99 East Broadway, Suite 400, Eugene, Oregon 97401-3111; (541)682-4283

Has lead a local effort to integrate wetlands and riparian areas into the cities redevelopment.  Pioneer effort in conflict avoidance.

• Randal Arendt, Principal, Natural Lands Trust, Media, PA.

Hildacy Farm, 1031 Palmers Mill Road, Media, PA 19063

(610)353-0517

National leader in developing and implementing an approach to designing housing and commercial developments to meet economic goals and protect open space.

• Tim Beatly, Professor, University of Virginia, Richmond, VA.  

Professor of Sustainable Communities, School of Architecture, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400122; Charlottesville, VA  22904-4122; voice: (434) 924-6457; fax:   (434) 982-2678

e-mail: tb6d@virginia.edu

Internationally known author of “Green Urbanism” which illustrates international best practices that can be, and are being, applied in the US.

• Judith LaBelle, Executive Director, Glynwood Center, Cold 

Spring, NY.  PO Box 157, Cold Spring, New York, NY 10516; (845)265-3338

Leads a private non-profit that assists U.S. communities with sustainable agriculture and ecological and economic regeneration plans through the creative use of teams of outside experts from the US and other countries. Recent work is emphasizing sustainable agriculture.

GREEN SPACE: NOT AN EMPTY NEED

GREEN SPACE: NOT AN EMPTY NEED

Steve Twomey   
Column: STEVE TWOMEY
March 27, 1997; Page D1Didn't go straight to work yesterday. Went for a drive in the country. True country still lies within the boundaries of my county, Montgomery, and in no time I was parked on the shoulder of a one-lane road called Sugarland. Of the 809,500 people who inhabit Montgomery, I saw all of two, walking way off near the western horizon. Under a big sky, farms dotted the undulating earth in every direction. I had passed a sign a couple of miles back: Agricultural Produce: The Pride of Montgomery County.

I turned onto Montevideo Road, which dipped into the wooded valley of Dry Seneca Creek, which was anything but dry. An elegant farm manse appeared, an older building of brick constructed in the Federal style. The barn that went with it was actually red. With the creek in the foreground, the setting was a painting.
By then, I had an answer.
The question was Til Hazel's.
John T. "Til" Hazel Jr., the area's best-known developer, posed it in Sunday's paper, in the opening segment of a fascinating three-part series on growth by Stephen C. Fehr, Glenn Frankel and Peter Pae. Told that the Washington area converts an average of 28 acres of open space to residential, commercial or industrial use every day, Hazel replied:
"So what?"
Hazel went on: "The land is a resource for people to use, and the issue is whether you use it well. . . . Is the goal to save green space so the other guy can look at it? How about job growth? How about the tax base? How about the ability to get to work? How about the ability to find a place for your kid to work?"
He seemed to suggest, in other words, that if the landscape is giving way to what we need, the daily total of evaporation isn't very important. Twenty-eight acres a day? So what, they're being well used.
So what?
Because who wants to go for a drive amid subdivisions?
Urban/suburban people like me over-romanticize the rural. Many years ago, I went to Denio Junction, essentially a service station-cum-restaurant surrounded by ranches in the most remote corner of Nevada. The idea was to chronicle how satellite dishes were changing backwater ways, and I expected to find grave fear that the tube was chipping away at old bonds and injecting too much of the modern. What I found was joy. Rural life was boring as hell, residents said, and they loved having TV.
But it's not being overly romantic to say that having the countryside within an easy drive is one of life's needs. Not as much as a job is, certainly, or a roof over your head or food on the table, but there is something unquantifiably beneficial about being able to wash your eyes in green, inhale the aroma of a plowed field and feel -- for a while, anyway --less boxed, more alone. It beats the office.
Who doesn't crave wide-open spaces? I bet even Til Hazel does. But each day's bite of 28 acres makes the open spaces a little less wide, a little harder to find, a little farther away. The daily total does matter.
There's just one tiny obstacle to reducing it.
"We keep having babies every day," Gus Bauman said by phone.
Bauman, the former head of Montgomery County's Planning Board, meant that growthis neither good nor bad, but inevitable. People happen. A no-growth stance is pointless. Moreover, because the District has all but collapsed as a place for the middle class, thegrowth will head for the frontier because people want "cheaper housing, safer neighborhoods and better schools," Bauman said.
"And that is the American dream," he said, "and there's nothing wrong with it."
There is not.
It is elitist to deny a lifestyle to the next family. If it wants a single-family detached home on a little piece of land, it ought to be able to get it. The issue is whether it's really necessary to gobble up 28 acres of landscape every day to provide such housing and to provide the roads, schools, malls, restaurants, offices, parking lots, libraries and recreation centers that go with it, so much of it so unattractive.
I doubt it is necessary. One look at any subdivision suggests it isn't. There's usually no place to walk, because destinations are spread far and wide over the landscape. Jobs aren't nearby. Entertainment isn't nearby, nor retail. Everything requires a car.
Government could nudge developers into creating more communities geared toward feet. And government could use public dollars to channel growth to older areas already touched by roads, utilities and other public facilities but perhaps now underutilized because the development action has moved outward.
And maybe, if we all live long enough -- by which I mean a century or two -- the District will be nudged into becoming a place people flock to instead of flee, because it'll have great jobs, safe streets and good schools for all. That would save some land out there on the margins.
The daily loss of acreage matters for another reason. Even if you hate green space, you probably like green money, and it costs millions for government to provide the infrastructure of sprawl. A garbage route that serves 10 houses on five acres each is going to be longer than one that serves 10 houses on a half-acre each.
"Government should guide {growth} for fiscal reasons, if no other," Bauman said.
Myself, I remain fond of the convenient country-drive reason for saving open space. I need the peace.
Incidentally, there go 28 more acres.

The Future: Looking at Growth Scenarios in a Public Forum

To: OPPE-OPPE Everyone
cc:
Subject: Presentation this Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:00 in the EPA
Auditorium

The Future:  Looking at Growth Scenarios in a Public Forum

Last March, The Washington Post ran a series of front page articles
examined historical trends in land use and projecting where growth will to
occur by the year 2020 based on local land use plans.  Because no single
agency keeps tabs on the loss of green space in the Washington region,
The Post worked with the National Center for Resource Innovations (NCRI),
a private, nonprofit educational organization funded by Congress to supply
geographic information to policymakers.

Please join Steve Fehr from The Washington Post and Margaret Maizel from
the Center for Resource Innovations, Wednesday, March 11 from 1:00 to 2:00
in the EPA Auditorium  to discuss  their partnership  using GIS and
Internet technologies to provide citizens with information describing the
collective effects of future plans for growth by local governments in the
Washington DC region; the impact that the series has had since it was
published; and the opportunities for the federal government to help
integrate data and provide the information that is necessary to facilitate
leadership and direction on these controversial issues.

Steve Fehr has been a reporter for 22 years -- 13 years with the Kansas
City Star and the last nine years with the Washington Post.  He was born
in Kansas City but grew up in the sprawl capital, Los Angeles.  Fehr
graduated from the University of Missouri.  At the Post  he has been a
transportation reporter and, more recently, on a special projects team.
He lives in the planned community of Reston.

Margaret Maizel is one of the founders of the National Center for Resource
Innovations (NCRI)  a national non-profit organization established with
congressional funding through the Cooperative State Research Education and
Extension Service, of USDA in 1990. NCRI's mission is to build information
systems for public and private decision-makers at national-to-local
levels.  As the Executive Director of NCRI-Chesapeake, Margaret develops
federal, state, and local partnerships  to integrate data and provide new
and essential tools for assessing and predicting effects of decision
making on natural resources and ecosystems.  As a member of the Clarke
County, VA Planning Commission for 11 years and its chairman for two, she
co-authored the county's Comprehensive Plans and its ordinances addressing
growth management, agricultural lands protection, and the protection of
ground water and other environmentally sensitive areas. She also started
the GIS facility for the county in 1987, and chaired the VA Governor's
Commission on Mapping, Surveying and Land Information.

For background on the Post Series visit  http:\\www.washingtonpost.com and
search the sections and features menu for Regional Growth Map, then click
on  "Growing Pains: Changing Landscapes"  Also, check out NCRI's
homepage:  http:\\idt.net/~ncri

For more information contact Jamal Kadri at  260-3848

Twelve Things We Could Do for Green Infrastructure in Metropolitan Washington, DC

“Securing the Region’s Green Infrastructure: 

The Challenge, The Tools”

September 9, 2004 

12 noon to 1:45 p.m.

Sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute Forum 

1616 P Street, NW

Washington, DC

Twelve Things We Could Do for Green Infrastructure in Metropolitan Washington, DC

Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office, National Capital Region, National Park Service

Background

As we look at the metropolitan Washington, DC region, its watersheds, cities and communities, and the condition of our parks, open spaces and recreation areas, we need to ask ourselves four questions.

1.  What is the current park, open space and recreation area situation?  (i.e. How much green infrastructure is your metropolitan, or micropolitan, region losing per day?)

What alternatives are possible?

What can cities and other government agencies and

private sector organizations do to protect, manage and use parks, open space, recreation areas and sustainable practices?

4.  Most importantly, what are we, as individuals, prepared to do about the current situation?

In metropolitan Washington, DC Congress, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, NPS-National Capital Region, and others, decided to create a “Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project” to respond to the situation, explore alternatives and take action. (http://www.mwcog.org/committee/committee/)

During this two-year effort we learned:

 Metropolitan Washington DC will lose 28 to 43 acres acres of open space everyday from 1997 to 2020.  

 Normal metropolitan growth does not provide open space although land is abundant.  Parks, open space and recreation areas are often the residual product of the development process.

 Experience reveals that parks, open space and recreation area planning, protection, management and use should emphasize the total green space system, rather than individual isolated parks, natural areas, greenways, trails and recreation areas. 

 A green infrastructure approach to parks, open space and recreation areas is a way to recognize land for it’s ecological, recreational, cultural, economic, and conservation values and functions.  It seeks to prevent, rather than ameliorate, the degradation of natural lands, air, water, the countryside, parks, recreation areas, farms and forests.  Green infrastructure can be used to clean land, water, and air, replenish the human spirit, and help to sustain and regenerate the economy.

The project partnership involved seven primary organizations and more than 600 representatives from various local, states, regional, and federal government agencies and private groups and businesses.  It used a variety of forums, workshops, technical assistance, and status reports to share information and communicate.

The following list of twelve alternatives has been prepared based on input from the participants in the demonstration project.  These actions offer promise for “Securing the Region’s Green Infrastructure".

Things We Could Do

Build an integrated GIS green infrastructure database.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments "Green Mapping Forum" idea was developed to catalogue existing mapping efforts in the region. COG is planning a forum this fall.

National Capital Planning Commission, Casey Trees and DC are putting together a data atlas that would be the first step in a "state of the District" report for a spring symposium. Basically, it's pulling together all the data that various groups have collected, getting agreement on what we have, and figuring out what else needs to be developed.

Establish locally relevant indicators to monitor green 

infrastructure gains and loses.

The Chesapeake Bay Program has a system of indicators that are used to monitor the progress of the Bay protection and restoration effort.  The Bay indicators could be used as a model for parks, open space and recreation areas.

The Trust for Public Land has identified "Measurables to Determine the Excellence of an Urban Park System".  Their recently published survey includes Washington, DC parks.

Put a face on green space loses!

Analysis reveals that we lose somewhere between 28-43 acres of green space per day in the metropolitan Washington, DC region and this trend will continue at least until 2020.  Yet, there is rarely a public outcry.  Loses need to be converted from abstract statistics to more personal-values.  Loses need to be documented and publicized using a "poster-child" approach that draws attention to the losses and encourages action to prevent further loss of green space.

Eat your green space!

Do your food purchases help to protect the scenery? Does the money you spend on food benefit local producers? Do our purchasing practices encourage closer links between the consumer and the local products they buy?  Are there ways that we can recognize the need to encourage and sustain vital rural agricultural and fisheries industries now, and for future generations?

The Local Food Project at Airlie, VA. works to link food buyers and producers in the same geographic region.

The Business Alliance For Local Living Economies (BALLE), with a chapter in Baltimore, helps promote locally owned independent businesses through marketing, networking and advocacy, and sharing information about socially and environmentally responsible business practices. 

Showcase and demonstrate on the ground success. 

Many leaders have interest in learning more about green infrastructure approaches being used in the metropolitan region. Close-to-home success stories are a way to demonstrate the benefits of green infrastructure and highlight the implementation process.  The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has designed a 13-stop tour of various examples of existing "best Management Practices (BMP's)" that are helping to sustain our green infrastructure.

Equip all advocates and decision-makers with basic green 

infrastructure protection, restoration, management, funding tools.

As leaders respond to public concerns about the loss of green infrastructure communities are increasingly interested in focusing on tools and solutions to the loss of open space and the types of open space or green infrastructure that are most needed for a healthy community and region.  Jim McElfish of the Environmental Law Institute is the lead author of a new ELI guide -"Nature Friendly Ordinances" - that is one of the sources of information that people can use to help themselves save and protect green space. 

Build a network of green infrastructure practitioners, 

at all levels of the government and the private sector, with depth and breadth.

The future of the region's green infrastructure depends on people. Knowing who the key decision-makers, practitioners, community advocates, subject matters experts, public land managers, and civic associations leaders are can help protect and manage green space. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has produced a printable version of a "Who's Who in Green Infrastructure" directory" for regional community parks, green space and recreational agencies and organizations. The directory lists the names, addresses, telephone, telefax and e-mail contact information numbers of the most important green infrastructure contacts in the region.  The directory is indexed by green infrastructure category and will be accessible on COG’s website through a download format.

Create a public-private Metropolitan Washington Green 

Space/ Green Infrastructure Alliance.

The metropolitan Washington, DC region doesn't lack government agencies or private groups with an interest or a responsibility for green space.  Hundreds of organizations and agencies are involved in making decisions that affect the region's green infrastructure.  Unfortunately no one group or government speaks for green infrastructure or all the green space interests.

The San Francisco Bay communities in California created a Greenbelt Alliance "to make the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area a better place to live by protecting the region's greenbelt and improving the livability of its cities and towns".  Since 1958 they have worked in partnership with diverse coalitions on public policy development, advocacy and education.

9. Continue to afford leaders with an open and non-

Judgmental platform to discuss green infrastructure status and trends, techniques, programs, etc.

Nearly 500 community, government and private sector leaders participated in a series of green infrastructure forums over the last two years.  Participants indicated that the forums had value and were a no-decision-making platform for discussing common interests and innovative solutions to regional problems and opportunities.  The forums proved to be a way to showcase local experts and those from afar.

Link together related green infrastructure campaigns

The region's green space agenda has many related but seemingly disconnected pieces to it.  Different agendas often draw energy, resources and attention away from the common aspects of green infrastructure and blur priorities.  Different but related green space campaigns for parks, green roofs, low-impact development, invasive plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, greenways, cultural landscapes, forest buffers, wildlife habitat, wetlands protection, and trail corridors, would benefit from being linked as part of a larger green infrastructure system.

 Support and participate in regional green

infrastructure events.

Success is often a state-of-mind and our green space work is often influenced by the perception of what is going on.  Periodic green infrastructure events, such as conferences, workshops, forums, or special activity events (i.e. tree plantings, etc.) are a way to create synergy and send a message to service providers that things are happening in metropolitan Washington.  As partners convene these gatherings it is important to show support and participate.

For example, DC will host the Third Annual "Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards, & Trade Show" on May 4-6th, 2005 in Washington, D.C. This event will bring together experts from diverse fields across North America, and around the world. The conference will raise awareness of the many benefits of green roofs, share new research findings and provide information on the latest designs, implementation techniques and products. It will be a great opportunity to broaden networks and develop new business contacts while building more sustainable cities through green roof implementation.

 Celebrate green infrastructure. 

Panel discussions, meetings, conferences, reports and resolutions don't mean anything unless they lead to actions that make a difference.  Creating opportunities to celebrate the many varied values and functions of green infrastructure is essential to the green infrastructure movement.  It creates a connection with the places that need protection and management and the people that care about them.

For example, events such as the Potomac Conservancy's "Growing Native: Get Nuts for Clean Water" effort, the Committee of 100's special "Tour of the Fort Circle Parks-Civil War Defenses of Washington" and Washington Park's and People's "Washington Ridge Crossing" walk are but a few of the ways that people are taking action, sharing success and celebrating the values of green infrastructure.

For Further Information: For information on the Metropolitan Washington Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project and this list of alternatives contact: Glenn Eugster at NPS, National Capital Region, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW, Room 350, Washington, DC 20242. By telephone call (202) 619-7492.  By e-mail write: glenn_eugster@nps.gov