Contact: Linda Breggin, Environmental Law Institute® (615-279-1861); Susan George, Defenders of Wildlife (505-248-0118)
WASHINGTON - Across the country, the health of ecosystems and the species they sustain have declined dramatically since Europeans settled North America. In 1992, the eminent biologist E.O. Wilson warned that one of every five species on earth could become extinct by the year 2020. The primary causes of this biodiversity loss in the United States are habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation — all of which are affected in part by state and local land use planning decisions.Planning for Biodiversity: Authorities in State Land Use Laws is the first study to examine the laws that enable land use planning and growth management in each of the 50 states. Focusing on the authority to consider biodiversity protection in making land use planning decisions, the report identifies a wide range of authorities related to biodiversity protection, including planning requirements for natural resources, open space, wildlife habitat, and critical and sensitive areas.
"The authorities we identified in this report are potentially powerful as conservation tools that state and local governments across the country can use to protect biodiversity when making land use decisions," said ELI Senior Attorney Linda Breggin. "Unfortunately, they are currently underutilized."
Co-author Susan George, Field Counsel for Defenders of Wildlife, agrees. "States have untapped power to protect the wildlife and habitat within their borders," she said. "This report can be used by citizens and government officials alike to protect these vital natural resources."
The report is the third in the ELI series addressing the integration of biodiversity and land use planning, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The first report, Planning with Nature: Biodiversity Information in Action, illustrates the ample authority at the state level to require consultation with Natural Heritage Programs on the impacts of proposed decisions on biological diversity. The second, Conservation Thresholds for Land-Use Planners, provides land use planners a review and synthesis of the most up-to-date scientific literature on basic biologic thresholds. The fourth and final installment in the series, Nature-Friendly Ordinances: Local Measures for Biodiversity, will be released in early 2004. In addition, Defenders of Wildlife published Integrating Land Use Planning and Biodiversity in the spring of 2003, also supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a report highlighting numerous conservation planning efforts currently underway in communities around the country.
Print copies of Planning for Biodiversity: Authorities in State Land Use Laws can be ordered from ELI for $24.00 each plus shipping by calling (800) 433-5120; or downloaded for free at http://www.elistore.org/ reports_detail.asp?ID=10917 or at http://www.defenders.org/publications/stateplanning.
Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for biodiversity. With more than 440,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective voice for wildlife and habitat. For more information on Defenders of Wildlife, please contact Brad DeVries at 202-682-9400 or bdevries@defenders.org. http://www.defenders.org.