COMMUNITIES WORKING TOGETHER

LANCASTER COUNTY
1994 COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP FORUM: COMMUNITIES WORKING TOGETHER


March 24, 1994
Remarks by J. Glenn Eugster,
Watershed Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Chesapeake Bay Program Office
Annapolis, Maryland

























INTRODUCTION/ OVERVIEW

Lancaster County has long been one of my favorite landscapes. I have watched your conservation efforts with interest and admiration over the last twenty years. My interest has been aimed at learning from your stewardship work for the approach you use is one of sensitivity and consensus building. My admiration is also based on the character and quality of this special place for Lancaster County is one of the "Great Landscapes of America".

I share my thoughts with you with certain amount of humility. This discussion reminds me of a conversation I had recently with Grant "Hun" Lawson of Crisfield, Maryland. Hun is a waterman and Crisfield is recognized as the "Seafood Capital of the World. EPA, as part of its role in the Chesapeake Bay Program, is assisting Crisfield with a local action plan for heritage tourism.
As I talked to Hun about my ideas about heritage I happened to ask him how long his family has been living and working the Chesapeake Bay. He said they came to the region around 1610.

Obviously Hun Lawson has a perspective about heritage and the Chesapeake Bay landscape that is different from my own.
I feel similar about having this conversation with you since your area is the result of the traditions of private land ownership and stewardship over hundreds of years. Perhaps your perspective and the insights I have gained from working with communities across the country can prove to be a useful combination to help design a regional framework for creating and sustaining communities.

THE LANDSCAPE OF LANCASTER COUNTY

Lancaster County is a unique place which attracts millions of visitors who come to see your land and communities, meet your people and experience your culture. Because of its special qualities Lancaster County, both the area and the community, is a vulnerable landscape faced with the challenge of managing the prosperity that visitors and your geographic location brings.

Chuck Little, a Washington, D.C. writer and journalist--and author of the book "Hope for the Land", has said, "Our failure to connect land and community has led to the loss of both--in cities, suburbs and rural areas. Land is the origin of community--of the community of people every bit as much as it is the community of nature".
Certainly Chuck's philosophy and concern is reflected in the Forum today and your view of the future of Lancaster County.

The landscape we see today is the result of the interaction between people, land use and the natural, physical, biological and economic processes at work in this part of the Susquehanna River basin. Despite a great deal of environmental protection, countryside stewardship and historic preservation efforts we continue to lose more of the landscape to poor development decisions than we are able to protect. The reasons for these decisions, and the existing development trends, are many and quite complex.

Traditionally States, local governments and the private sector have approached the conservation and development of special landscapes by focusing separately on different portions of the natural and cultural system.

Many of these programs and approaches are landscape value driven with emphasis being placed on the conservation or protection of resource production areas such agriculture and timber lands. Some are aimed at the protection of natural values and functions such as wetlands, plant and animal habitat and species. Certain approaches emphasize the wise and appropriate use of other environmental resources such as river corridors, greenways or open space networks.

Other government and private sector programs and approaches are land and water use driven with emphasis placed on certain types of development, land use and zoning such as industrial parks, commercial centers, infra-structure, parks, recreation and historic areas.

Additional programs and approaches seem to be a response to land use threats and problems and are typically aimed a environmental protection including efforts to protect surface and ground water quality, rare and endangered species and prime agricultural lands.

Although each of these programs and approaches typically involves the public and some cooperation, the coordination of these efforts between public agencies, at all levels, and the private sector is largely dependent upon the commitment of government and private officials to work together. Unfortunately there are many reasons why this cooperation and coordination does not occur.

The segmented approach to landscape conservation is further complicated by the importance and de-centralized nature of home rule, private property rights and the need to allow people the freedom and flexibility to prosper.

The agencies and groups interested in landscape conservation and development have typically organize themselves around these values and uses. Organizations and support groups typically advocate for single land uses, development types, or dedications of preservation. (ie.wetlands, industrial parks, etc.)

Despite a focus which is often based on a sophisticated knowledge of science and technology, this single value/ use driven approach frequently has resulted in the allocation of different land and water areas to different single purpose uses. Unfortunately this approach frequently will achieve one purpose but often does so with little thought of the positive and negative impacts on other related areas.

NEW CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES ARE CONVERGING

Conservation and development approaches are being redesigned, and used in a juxtaposition of new arrangements, to respond to the need for a more holistic, intergovernmental and inter community approach to the way we use our land and water resources. In many ways each of these single purpose programs is evolving in a direction which is more sensitive to people, plants, animals and other uses of the landscape.

For example developers feel the need to better understand ecosystems. Groups interested in the preservation of species diversity are placing greater emphasis on the need to accommodate human economic and cultural needs. Tourism interests better understand the importance of protecting the ecological and cultural qualities their localities use to attract people to their region.

The convergence of these approaches, evident here in this portion of Pennsylvania as well as across the Nation, offers the most promising opportunities for managing growth in Lancaster County.

The approaches being used are:

A. Place specific --- Landscape conservation, protection and tourism efforts are focusing on examining the interconnectedness of natural, cultural and economic systems on a geographic place basis. Examples include watershed protection approaches, new efforts focusing on the nutrient reduction within the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, stormwater management, water quality and living resources.

B. Heritage focused --- Traditional park, economic development, historic-cultural preservation, ecological and cultural tourism coming together in new arrangements within specific areas with an emphasis on the natural and cultural heritage of the people and the landscape. Examples include heritage corridors and parks and heritage based tourism.

C. Ecosystem oriented --- Public and private agencies and groups are increasingly interested in ecosystem protection which emphasizes place-based environmental management. Numerous examples include ecosystem plans such as the Pocono Mountains Wetlands Campaign and The Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places. These and others are noteworthy because they are demonstrating that the protection of functioning ecosystems for the preservation of species diversity can accommodate human economic and cultural needs as well.

D. Encouraging countryside stewardship --- This approach is part of the sustainable use movement where communities use their resources to meet current needs while ensuring that adequate resources are available for future generations. Examples include the International Countryside Stewardship Exchange, cooperative work with land trusts and voluntary private landowner actions.

F. Directing land use --- Cooperative public and private initiatives, such as your effort here in Lancaster County are being targeted toward growth management. These efforts often are aimed at voluntarily directing new development to urban areas where there is a full range of public facilities available to support economic development.



PROTECTED LANDSCAPES

The landscape conservation and development approaches identified can be described within a framework of "Protected Landscapes". The concept of "Protected Landscapes" can be described as a way:

"To maintain significant natural and cultural landscapes which are characteristic of the harmonious interaction of man and land, while providing opportunities for public enjoyment through recreation and tourism within the normal lifestyle and economic activity of these areas".

The "Protected Landscape" approach emphasizes the protection of lands, waters, people, traditions and economies.

Central to this concept is the understanding that different areas will require different objectives which are determined by the characteristics and communities of an area. The evolution of this concept is a response to:

* Ecological/ cultural awareness and infrastructure. Today we
have a better knowledge about people, plants, animals, ecological processes than before. There is also more democracy--people want to be involved in deciding the future of their areas. We also have a better understanding of the interrelationships between communities and the land and the need to protect these natural and cultural systems.

* Place and people orientation for understanding and targeting services. More and more attention is being given to the notion of "sense of place" for a place is a piece of the whole environment that has been claimed by people's feelings. Connections between people and their landscapes are being recognized and successful ecological/ cultural adaptations and economic relationships are being encouraged to continue. In many areas the value of working landscapes is being reinforced by development and protection interests.

* Local capability is increasingly important. Empowerment and more and more sensitivity to ecology, home rule and decentralization requires public and private service organizations to assess the capability of local leadership organizations and ascertain how they can be made more effective. Governments and private non-profits are becoming more and more service and customer oriented taking actions to accomplish specific tasks but more importantly to "help people help themselves" with environmental management.

* Process and agency/ organizational relationships are changing. Public involvement, participation in decision-making and consensus building continues to be essential. In many ways the process is more important than the product, decision or final result. The geographic focused,integrated, democratic, interdisciplinary approach to landscape conservation and growth management is causing government and the private sector to work in new arrangements. The new arrangements are blurring, and in many cases changing, the traditional roles and responsibilities. New opportunities are being created with these changing roles as different approaches are designed to solve problems and seize opportunities.

* Delivery of services being redesigned. Public and private organizations are placing more emphasis on customer driven programs. Federal, state and private non-profit agencies and organizations are looking for good local projects--sound ecological ideas with strong public support. Lancaster County is a Nationally and Internationally known landscape, in close proximity to the headquarters of many of these service organizations. This recognition and access can give the communities a competive edge for assistance and dollars to implement County and inter-municipal plans.


POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS FOR LANCASTER COUNTY

The communities within Lancaster County appear to be at a crossroad. How do you protect the unique sense of place you have in the County from commercialization, urban encroachment, cultural change, restrictions on farming and surface and groundwater pollution? The recently completed plans which have been prepared for future development, conservation and human services contain many excellent ideas to act upon. Other suggestions to be considered include.

1. Continue the traditions of stewardship and consensus building.

2. Certain problems/ opportunities will require working in new arrangements which reflect the value, use, protection and cultural connections. For example, water quality problems warrant a regional approach. It may be useful to develop locally based watershed protection efforts for all sub-watersheds. Such efforts
could be lead by an existing local organization or a coalition of municipalities.

3. Multi-objective approaches are needed, where different goals are accomplished simultaneously within a specific region/ area without destroying the natural and cultural landscape. Strategies for the future must go beyond single purpose goals and be designed to be sensitive to the full range of all beneficial public and private uses. The multi-objective approach will require the continued need to be working with new partners. Partnerships need to continue to include groups that don't normally work together and may have very different motivations.


4. State, federal governments and private groups need to help people help themselves rather than only accomplish projects, achieve goals, solve problems. Emphasis needs to be placed on developing the social or civic infrastructure of a community/ region of communities. This idea could be started with an assessment of the status of local social/civic infra-structure. Who are the groups that will be looked at to help implement these plans? Where are these groups now ? Where do they want/ need to be ? How can you help get them there ? What does the status of efforts tell outside organizations and agencies about what types of services they should be providing to assist your efforts ?

The provision of outside services needs to be more carefully and expediently integrated with priority local needs and ecological priorities. The integration of services and levels of government is most meaningful, on a voluntary basis, at the local landscape/ regional level. The identification of needs places a level of responsibility on local leaders to continue to promote dialogues that will provide the public the opportunity to articulate their goals, needs and problems. A community, watershed or sub-region that is able to articulate its needs, through some type of action plan, is in a better position to lead cooperative efforts and direct assistance.

6. Public and private stewardship experiences from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and other regions must be examined to help decide how to approach these issues and solve problems. Approaches which have been used successfully elsewhere can be tailored to specific communities and be designed to build on past success. Exchange types of programs/ forums can be used to share experiences to identify options for local leaders.

7. Finally, and most importantly, take time from your work and the business of planning for the future of the region, to get reacquainted with the natural and cultural heritage of Lancaster County.

CONCLUSION

The landscape of Lancaster County is the result of private ownership over hundreds of years and is the by-product of Commonwealth and local efforts to preserve agriculture. The traditions of stewardship are apparent in what you have and are the cornerstone and pathway for the future of this special and important area.












































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