Nature-Friendly Communities: Habitat Protection And Land Use Planning (Paperback)

by Chris Duerksen (Author), Cara Snyder (Author)
Key Phrases: nature protection programs, nature protection efforts, resource protection efforts, Dane County, Fort Collins, Baltimore County (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
oDamaging development practices cause environmental problems. But human communities donAEt have to be destructive. Nature-Friendly Communities explains how to put people and places in harmony. It contains sensible, useful information that will conserve habitat for future generations while improving the qualitiy of life for people from downtown to suburbs.o --Govenor Bill Richarson

Product Description

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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Product Details

• Paperback: 421 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559638656
• ISBN-13: 978-1559638654
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #340,486 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Book, September 29, 2007

By	Roger Waldon - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nature-friendly Communities is an important and timely book. Useful to both professional planners and community leaders, these case studies show what is possible, and encourage us all to move in these directions. Very readable, great information.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful index, July 25, 2005

By	mark wain "moving to Siberia" (Harvard) - See all my reviews

This is a timely and important book; especially in times that promote big business at the expense of the environment.

The wonderful index is a great aid to the reader.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Warning: This Book Contains Some Propaganda, September 28, 2005

By	R. Davis - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After my experiences with the Nature-UNfriendliness of Baltimore
County, with regards to being harassed by the county for having
wildflowers and native plants in a Nature-friendly landscape, I
was absolutely shocked to see Baltimore County listed as one of
the top-ten supposedly "Nature-Friendly" communities. Would a
truly Nature-friendly community issue someone a criminal citation
for having "weeds and tall grass," which are wildflowers and
native grasses, growing on one's property? Would a truly
Nature-friendly community have laws stating that all plants which
are allergenic
(as are most plants), all plants that are poisonous (as are many cultivated plants, as well as many native
plants!), any plants subjectively determined to be "weeds"
over a foot tall and any types of grasses over a foot tall,
are illegal? Unfortunately, Baltimore County only appears to be
Nature-friendly as long as one's neighbors have no complaints
about Nature-friendly landscapes and don't telephone code
enforcement to complain about "weeds and tall grass." Of course,
tall decorative grass growing outside of a county office building
is apparently not viewed as a violation of those same laws that
the county's citizens are subjected to.

Although I've telephoned the publisher of this book about the
inclusion of Baltimore County being a mistake, they've yet to
return my telephone call.