COMMON GROUND

COMMON GROUND

A Community Parks, Recreation and Green Space National Demonstration Project for People and Living Resources
Revised Draft 4/30/01

Background

Greater National and international attention is currently being given to more systematic approaches to the planning and management of park, forest, farm and ‘other’ green space lands. Increasingly communities understand the environmental, economic and social benefits derived from the conservation, restoration and protection of these public and private lands.

Public and private leaders are also beginning to view State and local government and private investment in community parks, recreation areas, riparian buffers, and other green space as investments in the community’s “infrastructure –its green infrastructure”.

Infrastructure, a term usually used to describe the roads, bridges, public utilities, and railways of our cities and countryside is being redefined to include the green space areas that provide ecological services and other public benefits. Parklands, farmlands, forests, waterways and wetlands – when strategically designed to provide economic, environmental and social benefits – make up the green infrastructure that allows development to profit from the aesthetic benefits and from reduced need for investments in gray infrastructure.

Green infrastructure conserves natural ecosystem values and functions. It is the strategic conservation framework needed for environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

Using the experience of various state and community-based entities, conservationists, land planners, developers and others have defined "green infrastructure" as:

“Our Nation’s natural life support system – an interconnected network of waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats, and other natural areas; greenways, parks and other conservation lands; working farms, ranches, and forests of conservation value; and wilderness and other open spaces that support native species, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain air and

water resources and contribute to the health and quality of life for America’s communities and people.”

Recognition of the green infrastructure approach has grown over the last decade. For several years now, the American Planning Association, National Land Trust Alliance, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Association of Conservation Districts, The Wilderness Society, and other national organizations have included workshops and sessions on green infrastructure at their national conferences.

Authors such as Tim Beatley have written about its use in his book "Green Urbanism". The American Planning Association published a Planning Advisory Series Memo on “Green Infrastructure: A Strategic Approach to Land Conservation.” Governor's from FL, MD, UT, PA and MN have developed and implemented green infrastructure approaches into State policies for smart growth and land protection. And a number of metropolitan areas – Chicago, Chattanooga, Boston, Baltimore and more– have begun successful local grassroots initiatives to extend green infrastructure networks from the inner city to the surrounding countryside.

Within this context, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Forest Service, has organized and helped support the design of a Green Infrastructure Training Program in collaboration with The Conservation Fund, federal, State and local governments, private groups and professional organizations. Its purpose is to help communities and their partners make green infrastructure an integral part of federal, state, and local government plans, policies, practices and community decisions

In August 2000 Washington Parks & People, in response to these developments, convened a forum of community leaders and government representatives to discuss making the connections between Washington area parks and communities. Long a global leader in developing park, recreation and open space systems, various interests from the District and metropolitan region felt that it was timely to discuss what has been accomplished and what needs to be done to protect, restore, manage and enjoy parks, green spaces and recreation areas.

The forum was called "Common Ground" and it attracted more than 100 leaders. The day-long dialogue resulted in a recommendation to investigate the level of interest and support for a national demonstration project to implement the green infrastructure approach through a collaborative, community-lead, public and private partnership within the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

The Nation's Capital is a great city that is based on a vision with big ideas. Meeting participants agreed that the metropolitan region's parks are world-class and a foundation for completing a unified system of parks, green space and recreation areas.

The group felt that in order to achieve a system of green space that government agencies and private groups must work together with a "big vision". Specifically, they believe that they must support local initiatives, use a systematic approach to complete the vision and increase public and private funding for these areas. The strategy that was discussed called for making the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region a national demonstration project for a system of parks, green space and recreation areas.

All the forum participants agreed that the community parks and region’s green spaces are important to the livability of metropolitan Washington and worthy of an increased public-private locally led partnership effort.

Following the workshop representatives from the District of Columbia, the USDA-Forest Service and Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the USDOI-National Park Service met to discuss a possible collaborative demonstration project. This draft proposal summarizes the results of the discussions to date.

Common Ground Proposal

h Outcome
A city, and its adjacent region, that has achieved a balance and equity between the built environment and green space, sustained by natural processes able to support the life of its people and communities.

h Goal
Build a lasting public constituency to create a model public and private community partnership for a metropolitan park, green space and recreation area system that addresses the needs of people and nature.




h Lead Partners
The project will initially be a collaborative effort between the District of Columbia government, Washington Parks & People, Washington Council of Governments, National Capital Planning Commission, the US Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the US Department of the Interior's National Park Service-National Capital Region.

The lead partners take the responsibility for reaching out to other community leaders and local officials.


Anticipated Benefits

Build a linked metropolitan park, green space and recreation system that goes beyond the various federal/state/city jurisdictional boundaries and authorities;

Provide opportunities for recreation, natural and cultural education and tourism;

Improve environmental quality through ambient air quality improvement, noise abatement, microclimate enhancement, stormwater management and soil and groundwater management;

Protect and restore water quality and resource quantity with their important benefits to human and living resource health;

Increase the supply of fresh food within the metro area;

Provide opportunities for healthy walking, hiking and biking for recreation, commuting and travel;

Provide wildlife habitat and movement;

Enhance urban design through aesthetic quality improvement, preservation of sense of place and public access improvement.

Extend the ecological services and public benefits of green infrastructure into under-served neighborhoods of the D.C. metropolitan area.





Strategies for Action

1. Build a public education campaign for parks, green space and recreation areas in metro-Washington, DC.

b Common Ground Message: Develop a public service announcement that evocatively describes the parks, green spaces and recreation areas of the DC metro-region and illustrates their importance to residents, business people, visitors and living resources. (Lead organization: Washington Parks & People)


2. Develop communication tools among communities to foster long-term productive relationships with communities and individuals that live near or use the metro-region's parks, green space and recreation areas.

b Common Ground Extranet: Develop a three-dimensional version of a list serve and community bulletin board to make it easier for partner organizations to communicate and share information (Lead organization: Washington Parks & People).

b A Green Map: A map of park, recreation and green space lands in the DC metropolitan area is being prepared by NPS-Chesapeake Bay Program Office in Annapolis, MD. This will provide a geographic information system inventory and map of what exists now. (Lead organization: NPS-NER)

b Catalog existing green mapping efforts and convene a dialogue to discuss current projects and opportunities for future collaboration. (Lead organization: Washington Parks & People).


3. Recognize the existing achievements and traditions of cooperation.

b Showcase Local Success: Local community park, green space case studies could be documented to identify what community-based projects, including green infrastructure approaches, are underway now. This would give us a sense of what communities, and the City and County governments, are trying to doing now. (Lead organization: NPS-NCR)

b Recognize local success, annually, through a community parks, green space and recreation award program. (Lead organization: Jointly Sponsored)


4. Foster partnerships between community leaders and park, green space and recreation managers and interests at all levels of the government and in the private sector.

b Directory: Considerable interest exists for compiling a computer accessible directory of community park, green space and recreation interests in the Washington DC metropolitan region. Washington Parks & People has begun to collect information for the directory and would benefit from staff or funding assistance to compile and computerize this important information source. (Lead Organization: Washington Parks & People)

b International Exchange with Germany: EPA's Office of International Activities, the National Park Service, the Department of Housing & Urban Development, and the Glynwood Center are sponsoring an exchange between Germany and the US. The exchange will focus on urban watersheds and will include green urbanism, stormwater management, roof-top and rain gardens, riparian buffers, and other ways to protect water and air quality within the Potomac River watershed. (Lead organization: Glynwood Center & EPA Office of International Activities)

b Support Staff: Provide staff and administrative services to support the Common Ground Initiative National Demonstration Project. (Lead organization: Jointly Sponsored).


5. Convene forums to provide government agencies, private groups, business and other community interests with the opportunity to share information and ideas about community parks, green space and recreation.

b Common Ground Forum: Washington Parks & People will hold a second Common Ground Forum for the metropolitan region. The forum will provide a status report on this effort, showcase success stories, talk about examples from other areas, and look at future strategies and actions. (Lead organization: Washington Parks & People)

b Training Workshops: Provide communities with opportunities for training in forming friends groups, fundraising, green infrastructure, constituency development and other park, green space and recreation area skills. (Lead organization: Jointly Sponsored)


6. Provide assistance to locally supported initiatives that are consistent with local government and community goals.

b Watts Branch Demonstration Project: Work with local leaders to apply, showcase and measure the environmental, community and economic impact of a green infrastructure approach to this watershed (Lead Organization: Washington Parks & People)

b Low Impact Development: Work with the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals to design a locally supported project on NPS lands, within the Anacostia River watershed, to handle runoff in a different way. (Lead organization: NPS-NCR and Capitol Hill Partners).

b Green Gardens: Work with the District, NPS's "Welfare to Work" initiative, and private foundations, to explore opportunities for developing a "Green Gardens" program. The effort would use community "greening" projects to train unemployed women in horticulture, street tree maintenance and nursery management (Lead organization: Alliance for Community Education & NPS-NCR).

Schedule

b Green Infrastructure Training Course pilot, National Conservation Training Center, Shepherdstown, WV, May 1-3, 2001

b Mid-Atlantic Land Trust Conference, Harrisburg, PA, May 11-12, 2001

b Urban Ecosystems/Green Infrastructure Workshop, Chicago, IL, May 14-15, 2001

b National Urban Forestry Conference, Washington, DC, September 5-9, 2001

b Mid-Atlantic Governors Conference on Greenways, Blueways and Green Infrastructure, Crystal City, VA, September 17-19, 2001

b National Land Trust Rally, Baltimore, MD, September 29-October 2, 2001

b Others as identified


Funding Needs

The Common Ground project is viewed as a partnership between all levels of government and the private sector. $250,000 in federal funding is being requested for Fiscal Year 2002 for a National demonstration project. These funds would be matched with non-federal funds and inkind services. Existing government programs will also be expected to contribute to this initiative.


Participating Organizations(to date)


______________________________________________________
Terry Carlstrom, Regional Director Date
National Capital Region, National Park Service

___________________________________________________
Pearlie Reed, Chief Date Date
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

___________________________________________________
Neal O Albert, Interim Director Date
District of Columbia, Parks Department

___________________________________________________
Michael Rains, Director Date
USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry

____________________________________________________
Steve Coleman, President Date
Washington Parks & People


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Others are anticipated