Western Community Stewardship Forum
Innovative Solutions to Community Land Use
Strengthen the capacity of county officials in rural counties in eleven western states to manage growth in their communities through innovative approaches to community land use and by stimulating healthy economies, preserving local identity, and safeguarding natural and cultural resources.
To assist rural western counties in forging innovative solutions to community land use.
To promote effective growth management that balances environmental, economic, and community concerns through community-driven land solutions.
Throughout the West, small towns in rural settings have become magnets for those looking to escape the congestion, crime, and stress of contemporary urban America. For local elected officials, this period of growth and change presents real challenges.
Historically, the West has depended on riches harvested from the land. Miners, ranchers, farmers, and loggers were the original settlers of many of these communities. Today, however, in many regions of the West, the economic landscape looks quite different. An aging and mobile population, the global nature of production, and the revolution in communications and information technologies are stimulating growth that is not related to traditional resource-based industries. This growth can help strengthen and diversify local economies. However, it also creates a new set of challenges that county officials need to be prepared to tackle. County officials must increase their capacity to manage this new "boom" in the West. The good news is that there are proven strategies that elected officials can use to preserve local identity, stimulate a healthy economy, and safeguard natural and cultural resources. These strategies are part of a new approach to growth management, called "community stewardship," which seeks to meet local economic aspirations while preserving open space, wildlife habitat, and agricultural lands. To meet these challenges, county officials will require new skills, information, and tools.
The National Association of Counties and the Sonoran Institute have created a partnership to address the increasing need for innovative community-driven solutions to land-use issues. The Sonoran Institute works throughout western North America to promote community-based strategies for preserving the ecological integrity of protected areas while at the same time meeting the economic aspirations of adjoining communities and landowners.
This project is made possible by a grant from The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
For more information on this and other environmental programs, please email Abigail Friedman or contact her by phone at (202) 942-4225.