This Issue
Bold Visions, Big Plans
Summertime, and the traffic is heavy—all the way to the lake. This is a price we pay for love. Yet most Minnesotans would not want to give up the pleasure of a day at the lake.
Our lakes also pay a price for this love, as Greg Breining explains in his story "State of the Lakes." Not surprisingly, the threat to our waters begins on land, with us. Thus, water-quality protection must also begin on land. Citizen lake associations are leading the way by forming a vision and plan for conservation and wise use.
Land protection is also the subject of Laurie Allmann's story "Acre by Acre." She outlines conservation strategies for individual landowners who seek long-term protection for their property.
Though conserving land can be a daunting task, people are showing increasing willingness to undertake it. In 2002 Americans passed 141 of 189 ballot measures to preserve parks and open space, according to a report by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. Minnesota had one measure on the ballot: In Dakota County voters passed a bond referendum to raise property taxes to protect farmland and natural areas. The bond is expected to raise $20 million during the next 10 years and preserve some 10,000 acres of working farms and open space, particularly along waterways.
Water conservation topped the list of concerns identified by Dakota County citizens in a pre-election poll conducted by the Trust for Public Land. In a campaign to garner support for the referendum, the Dakota Citizens for Land and Water highlighted reasons to vote yes. The first four: protect drinking water sources, conserve land that protects water quality, protect land that will help control flooding, and protect land along the Mississippi, Minnesota, Cannon, and Vermillion rivers.
Dakota County's bold move is inspiring. Yet Minnesotans can also look beyond state borders for models of conservation vision and planning. For me, Oregon comes to mind. While a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, I explored the ocean coastline. From sand dunes to rocky cliffs, all of it was accessible because the public owns the wet sand beach (up to the high-tide line). And thanks to the Oregon Beach Bill, the public has a perpetual easement to use the dry sand beach up to the vegetation line (statutory or established, whichever is farther inland).
Laws are just the beginning of protection of natural resources for Oregonians. The state's land-use planning program also relies on citizen participation. Every coastal city and county has a comprehensive land-use plan crafted over the years by local officials and residents. The state approves the local plans, based on its statewide planning goals and legal requirements. Each plan aims to balance resource conservation and economic development.
Conserving land actually creates markets and generates money, says an editorial writer in a recent issue of National Parks magazine. For example, Acadia National Park in Maine produced more money per acre in 2000 than the state's timberlands did. That's $3,400 per park acre in goods and services compared with $368 from timberlands.
Love of the land (or lake) is a primary motive for protecting it from development. In other words, love drives a person's conservation vision. Money, of course, needs to be part of the conservation equation. It adds incentive, and it funds the conservation plan. Together, the vision and plan can shape sensible growth and sound resource management.
Kathleen Weflen, Editor in Chief