Publications

Sustainable Use of Land Publications

Biodiversity Conservation Publications

Controlling Invasives Publications

Sustainable Use of Land Publications

• Targeting Public Dollars for Sustainable Development — Pennsylvania’s Keystone Principles provide an innovative approach for targeting state investments and choosing wisely among competing proposals for state aid and infrastructure expenditures.
• Regional and Collaborative Approaches to Water, Sewer, and Stormwater Management in Pennsylvania — Water resources and infrastructure management have a great deal to do with sustainable development of our communities. ELI and 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania explore working examples of collaborative municipal and regional approaches to water resources and infrastructure management in a new publication.
• Improving Economic Health and Competitiveness through Tax Sharing — This issues paper examines tax sharing programs in metropolitan areas that help support redevelopment and prevent exurban sprawl.
• Ten Things Wrong With Sprawl — This issues paper describes ten negative effects of exurban sprawl. Sprawl damages the environment, wastes resources, threatens existing governments’ infrastructure investments, imposes a tax on citizens’ time, and represents a market failure, among other drawbacks.
• Planning For Development and Sewage Infrastructure: Can We Be Consistent? — Using Pennsylvania as a case study, ELI examines how sewage infrastructure affects land use planning.
• Chesapeake 2000 Tax Policy Study — ELI examines ways in which tax laws affect development choices and identifies tax policy tools available to implement the 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement’s commitments on sprawl and land use.
• Smart Links: Turning Conservation Dollars into Smart Growth Opportunities — Public open space investments and bond issues can be used as a stimulus to the greater adoption and implementation of smart growth planning, zoning, infrastructure, and economic development techniques on nearby lands. This project examines programs in numerous states.
• Smart Growth in the Southeast: New Approaches to Guiding Development — Using examples drawn from southeastern states, ELI shows how communities can assure that development is consistent with sustainable land use and urban revitalization, breaking the pattern of sprawl that has characterized this rapidly growing region of the country.
• “Smart Politics” in ELI’s The Environmental Forum (January/February 2004) — Former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening describes his approach to gaining approval for Maryland’s landmark package of “smart growth” laws.
• Smart Growth in Small Towns and Rural Communities: Maryland’s Eastern Shore (2001)
• Smart Growth and the Clean Water Act (2001, Northeast-Midwest Institute publication)
• Roundtable Report: Smart Growth in Small Towns and Rural Communities: Maryland’s Eastern Shore (2000)
• Forests for the Bay (2000)
• Smart Growth in the Southeast: New Approaches for Guiding Development (1999)
• Sustainability in Practice (1999)
• Plumbing the Future: Sewage Infrastructure and Sustainability in Western Pennsylvania (1999)
• Guiding Growth in Virginia: Local Incentives for Revitalization and Preservation (1998)
• Linking Tax Law and Sustainable Urban Development: The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (1998)
• ELI Research Brief #6 - Property: Past, Present, Future (1996)
• Rediscovering the National Environmental Policy Act: Back to the Future (1995)
• Building on the Blueprint: How Virginia’s Communities Are Implementing Sustainable Development (1995)

Also consider these related books from ELI Press:

• Chad Emerson, The SmartCode Solution to Sprawl (2007)
• David Callies et al, Bargaining for Development: A Handbook on Development Agreements, Annexation Agreements, Land Development Conditions, Vested Rights and the Provision of Public Facilities (2003)
• John Nolon, Open Ground: Effective Local Strategies for Protecting Natural Resources (2003)
• James McElfish, Nature-Friendly Ordinances (2004)
• Craig Anthony Arnold, Wet Growth: Should Water Law Control Land Use? (2005)
• John Nolon, Well Grounded: Using Local Land Use Authority to Achieve Smart Growth (2001)
• Robert Simons, When Bad Things Happen to Good Property (2006)
• John Nolon, New Ground: The Advent of Local Environmental Law (2003)

Biodiversity Publications

• Design of U.S. Habitat Banking Systems to Support the Conservation of Wildlife Habitat and At-Risk Species (2008)
• State Wildlife Action Plans and Utilities: New Conservation Opportunities for America’s Wildlife (2007)
• Lasting Landscapes: Reflections on the Role of Conservation Science in Land Use Planning (2007)
• The Nature of Open Space Programs: Linking Land Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (2006)
• Nature-Friendly Ordinances: Local Measures for Biodiversity (2004)
• Planning for Biodiversity: Authorities in State Land Use Laws (2004)
• Conservation Thresholds for Land Use Planners (2003)
• Planning with Nature: Biodiversity Information in Action (2003)
• New York State Biodiversity Project Needs Assessment (2001)
• Status of the States: Innovative State Strategies for Biodiversity Conservation (2001)
• New Mexico’s Natural Heritage: A Handbook of Law and Policy (1999)
• Protecting Delaware’s Natural Heritage: Tools for Biodiversity Conservation (1999)
• Ohio’s Biological Diversity: Strategies and Tools for Conservation (1998)
• Indiana’s Biological Diversity: Strategies and Tools for Conservation (1995)

Additional State Biodiversity Resources and Information are available.

Also consider these related books from ELI Press:

• Robert McKinstry, et al, The Biodiversity Conservation Handbook: State, Local, and Private Protection of Biological Diversity (2006)
• James McElfish, Nature-Friendly Ordinances (2004)
• John Nolon, Open Ground: Effective Local Strategies for Protecting Natural Resources (2003)
• ELI, Legal Tools and Incentives for Private Lands Conservation in Latin America: Building Models for Success (2003)

Invasive Species Publications

• The Role of Aquatic Invasive Species in State Listing of Impaired Waters and the TMDL Program — This report examines the disparities in how seven states have addressed the effects of aquatic invasive species on the waters of their respective states through the federal Clean Water Act.
• Cooperative Prevention of Invasive Wildlife Introduction in Florida — This report recommends ways in which state and federal agencies can work together more effectively to keep harmful nonnative wildlife species out of Florida's environment. The recommendations are available as a summary report or a technical report.
• Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Invasive Species — The interaction of climate change and aquatic invasive species is not well understood. This ELI-authored report recommends ways in which state can consider climate change in their aquatic invasive species management plans.
• In 2007, ELI published Halting the Invasion in the Chesapeake Bay: Preventing Aquatic Invasive Species Introduction through Regional Cooperation. The report outlines the gaps and conflicts of existing state law pertaining to aquatic invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay and makes several recommendations designed to harmonize inter-state efforts in order to better prevent aquatic invasions.
• Early Detection/Rapid Response (EDRR) is a critical tool for identifying and eradicating introductions of new invasive species and pests. The effectiveness of EDRR largely depends on a supportive legal framework that can facilitate quick action. In 2007, ELI published Strategies for Effective State Early Detection/Rapid Response Programs for Plant Pests and Pathogens.
• In 2006, ELI published Report for the Great Lakes Protection Fund: Potential Federal Preemption of Laws in the Great Lakes States, which examines the extent to which relevant state laws would be affected by pending federal legislation (S.B.363 and H.R.5030) that, in its current form, would preempt state authority to regulate ballast water.
• In 2004, ELI published Filling the Gaps: Ten Strategies to Strengthen Invasive Species Management in Florida, which outlines the gaps and conflicts in the federal and state legal framework for invasive species management in Florida, with a particular focus on the Everglades.
• In 2004, ELI published Making a List: Prevention Strategies for Invasive Plants in the Great Lakes States, an overview of state invasive plant programs in the Great Lakes region. The report highlights the effectiveness of listing as a prevention mechanism and provides recommendations for improving the use of listing in the Great Lakes region and beyond.
• In 2004, ELI published Invasive Species Control: A Comprehensive Model State Law. This companion publication to Halting the Invasion, provides the statutory framework for a comprehensive state program to detect, control, and manage the threat of invasive species across all taxa.
• In 2002, ELI released the nation’s seminal study on state invasive species control authorities, Halting the Invasion: State Tools for Invasive Species Management. The report analyzes the existing state laws and regulations that address invasive species. It provides policy-makers with information on how to strengthen their own invasive species control programs. Included with the report is an appendix on CD-ROM. The appendix includes summaries of each state’s invasive species laws and regulations. Click here for more information.

Also consider these related books from ELI Press:

• Marc L. Miller et al., Harmful Invasive Species: Legal Responses (2004).