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Foreword
As published in Sisk, T.D., editor. 1998. Perspectives on the land
use history of North America: a context for understanding our changing
environment. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division,
Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-0003 (Revised September 1999).
104 pp.
Extinction is nothing new in North America. Nor is fire or flooding, grazing,
logging, or irrigation farming. What has changed over the past century is
the unprecedented scale and frequency of these disturbances as human changes
in land use accelerate across the landscape. That acceleration has been
difficult to keep track of, let alone make sense of. We have been too busy
dealing with sudden crises - where human and natural events compound - to step
back and assess the broad land use patterns behind each crisis. But this
publication does just that, and it does so just in time.
For land use and open-space planning are suddenly hot political topics, and
for good reason. Urban development now blankets 2.7% of America's surface
area (roughly the size of Minnesota) and targets our Nation's most fertile
soils. Concerned about this sprawl, traffic congestion, the loss of 7,000
acres of farmland and meadows every day, and escalating costs of suppressing
fire in urban interfaces, state and local ballots offered a record 200 open
space, land use, and conservation initiatives in 1998. More than 70 percent
of these measures passed. Voters approved $7 billion for "smart growth"
initiatives to preserve open space.
But what does that mean? How is "open space" defined? Who draws the land-use
blueprints, and how? Through this report the U.S. Geological Survey and
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are giving scientists and
laypersons alike the proper tools to answer precisely these questions.
Weaving the habitat needs of plant and animal species with the spatial and
resource needs of humanity will require new skills and new patterns of
collaboration by all. But there are incentives. For this open space
movement and the funding and good will that it generates provide an
unprecedented opportunity for conservation scientists to work effectively
with the public. Imagine those resources going to build and shape
science-based habitat conservation plans, protect critical wetlands,
restore fire to its healthy ecological role in the wild, and preserve migration
corridors for wildlife.
The flip side - if we ignore the truths presented in this publication - is
that the open space and livable communities desired by our people will lose
out to short-term, unplanned growth, with no scientific context or connection
to the land. That outcome would be more than disappointing: it would be a
missed opportunity to shape modern society in a way that benefits people and
the natural world, fuse the wants of humans with the needs of creation, and
dovetail our concept of "open space" with "habitat."
In theory, these twin values have been the goal all along, ever since Noah
emerged from his ark. In practice, it has proven a thorny dilemma. What we
lack is a broader, overarching perspective on land use that allows all parties
to step back from specific issues and see a bigger picture.
The overarching lesson from a historical look at land use in America - as
developed in this book - is that we need to address open space and habitat
conservation from the very beginning, and get going on the front end with
more effective planning, involving both civic leaders and conservation
biologists. This kind of collaboration requires innovation, development,
and outreach and some degree of mutual trust. Now is our chance to forge
a better way.
Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior
September 8, 1999
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