fyi...stefanie ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] **Apologies for cross posting -- This publication is free** ** To order, call the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program at (800) 968-7229** June 25, 1997 For Immediate Release ELI Inventories Local Wetlands Toolbox' Although wetlands conservation is sometimes seen as primarily a federal or state responsibility, local governments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have a variety of tools available to protect, conserve, and restore wetlands. Protecting Wetlands: Tools for Local Governments in the Chesapeake Bay, prepared by the Environmental Law Institute for the Chesapeake Bay Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is designed to assist local governmental officials, landowners, community activists, and others in identifying and using these tools to protect wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Agreement, signed in 1987, explicitly acknowledges that local government participation is essential to the success of the effort. As the focus of Bay protection activities has moved steadily upstream, the role of local governments in meeting wetlands conservation and restoration goals has continued to expand and the need for better training and coordination among local governments has grown. Protecting Wetlands is designed to meet this need -- it provides a straightforward description of tools available to local governments, identifies valuable reference materials that can be obtained by readers, and illustrates how local governments within the Bay watershed have used these tools in practice. Contacts and other information are provided to assist local governments in adapting these tools to their particular needs and priorities. Protecting Wetlands opens with a brief summary of the major federal and state regulatory laws and programs, and subsequent chapters examine conservation authorities in the three principle Bay watershed states -- Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Chapter Two explores local planning, including critical area plans, special area management plans, and public infrastructure plans. Chapter Three examines zoning tools, such as cluster zoning, planned unit development, agriculture protection zoning, and urban growth boundaries. Chapter Four outlines incentives, such as real estate taxes and other voluntary programs. Chapter Five explores opportunities for the public acquisition of wetland habitat, such as conservation and agricultural easements and the purchase of development rights, and mechanisms for financing these efforts. Chapter Six covers technical assistance and education and Chapter Seven provides a number of case studies with contact information from around the Bay watershed. Supplementary materials, providing a thorough introduction to federal and state programs for the Bay and how local governments and private citizens can get involved, will be available in early 1998. Protecting Wetlands: Tools for Local Governments in the Chesapeake Bay Region is available free of charge from the Chesapeake Bay Program office of the Environmental Protection Agency by calling (800) 968-7229 ___________________________________ Eric Eckl Assistant Director of Communications Environmental Law Institute 1616 P Street, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 939-3248 Fax: (202) 939-3868 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.eli.org ************************************ Stefanie S. Rixecker Department of Resource Management Lincoln University, Canterbury Aotearoa New Zealand E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************
