CHC News
April 2011
Comprehensive Land Use Plan
2011
Serenbe Recognized for Commitment to Nature
July 2011
Chattahoochee Hills balances population of City Council Districts
Recommended Reading
Three topics are suggested for study: Nature, Climate Change and Protecting and Preserving the Land.
Trends in our society are keeping people from exposure to nature. Consider the impact of texting, computer games, and security on where children spend their time. It is indoors. An unintentional consequence is that our children are separated from nature - walking in the woods, playing in a stream, seeing wildlife, breathing fresh air. These are much more meaningful that descriptors of “the good old days.” Exposure to the features of natural surroundings helps children in numerous ways. Richard Louv presents the scientific case for why we need to spend more time in natural surroundings in LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS and THE NATURE PRINCIPLE.
“Weather” used to be a brief forecast at the end of a news program. Now it is the headline. Extremes in weather - tornados, floods, heat waves, drought - are increasingly common. No, it’s not just more intense journalism. It is global climate change, and it is already happening. HOT, LIVING THROUGH THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS ON EARTH by Mark Hertsgaard is a “must read.”
Have we provoked your interest in preserving your land? Like to do something in your own community, such as lobbying for TDR’s? Try a sampling of the following:
Saving America’s Country - A Guide to Rural Conservation by Samuel N. Stokes, A. Elizabeth Watson, and Shelley S. Mastran. Available in book stores and through Amazon.com. ISBN 0-8018-5548-9.
Land Preservation Tools, published by the University of Georgia, is a slide presentation discussing conservation easements, conservation subdivisions, and transferable development rights. http://www.growthtools.uga.edu/growth/slides_land_pres/show.htm
Landowner’s Guide to Conservation Options, published by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and others, is available in printed copies at 770/ 918-6411 or is Internet accessible at: http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/dnr/wild/natural.html
Conservation Easements for Natural Resource Protection, published by the Georgia Environmental Policy Institute and Sautee-Nacoochee Community Association, is Internet accessible at: http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/dnr/wild/heritage/consease/
Conservation Subdivision Ordinances, published by the UGA Institute of Ecology Office of Public Service and Outreach for the Atlanta Regional Commission, is Internet accessible at: http://outreach.ecology.uga.edu/tools/cons_subdivisions.html
Introduction to Transferable Development Rights, published by the UGA Institute of Ecology Office of Public Service and Outreach, is Internet accessible at http://outreach.ecology.uga.edu/etowah/documents/tdr.pdf
The Conservancy is a member of the Land Trust Alliance. We are, after all, a land trust. We find that the LTA offers a wealth of knowledge on a variety of topics. We suggest you check LTA out at http://www.landtrustalliance.org/resources/publications.