This year, six rural communities from NH, TN, CO, NM, UT, and WA are participating in this cutting edge “classroom” and producing Climate Adaptation Plans. They are remarkable people, becoming experts in scaling forest, water and climate science and policy to the local level, and gathering additional momentum by collaborating with key participants in their communities.

The Climate Solutions University has helped me communicate effectively and bridge differences to improve my effectiveness both as a Mayor and as a climate change advocate.

- Dave Erley, Mayor / Town of Castle Valley, Utah

I participated in the Model Forest Policy Program’s Climate Solutions University in October of 2009. As a professional working in a community in the Southwestern U.S. that has not planned for or accepted the occurrence of climate change, this course gave me the tools to initiate the climate change conversation within my community. My knowledge of climate projections and climate change impacts for this region, as well as actions that communities around the nation are taking to become climate resilient has greatly increased.

- Amanda Richardson/Prescott Creeks

This educational opportunity is being conducted in partnership with The Cumberland River Compact.

For complete application information, go to:
http://www.mfpp.org/Climate_Solutions_University/2011.html

Pictures from Awards Ceremony

Gwinnett County

Gwinnett County, located in the greater Atlanta area, was recognized for a very ambitious and detailed 2030 Unified Plan that incorporates excellent data and implementation steps to address a variety of issues that this high-growth area currently faces. The awards committee was particularly impressed with the scope of the project, as well as the outreach efforts including the website. Nancy Lovingood, manager of long-range planning for the county, accepted the award along with project consultant Holiday Collins Storck from PB Placemaking, and delivered a presentation that provided additional details about the planning process and current status of the plan implementation.

Click here to see the Gwinnet County Presentation.

Gaston County

Gaston County, located in the growing Charlotte metro area, was recognized for a Unified Development Ordinance that was established through an inclusive process involving a wide variety of stakeholders. The awards committee was impressed with the county’s effort to move ahead, while retaining history and character through creative implementation of planning principles and public participation. David Williams, the Gaston County Planning Director, accepted the award and said the expectations for the project were high. “We were charged to “raise the bar” by enhancing development standards to promote quality development, livability, consistency with other existing policies while protecting our tax base.”

Click here to see the Gaston County Presentation.

The Mountain Landscapes Initiative

The Mountain Landscapes Initiative, a project managed by the Southwestern Commission and consulting firm The Lawrence Group, developed a detailed reference guide for local governments, officials, citizens, and developers to improve development practices in six rural counties located in western North Carolina. The project was recognized for its extensive public engagement process and transferability to other rural areas. Judy Francis, County Planning Division Chair-Elect, accepted the award on behalf of the Southwestern Commission and the Lawrence Group, and commented that “creative land use planning is not just a function of the metropolis. Some of the best work being done throughout the country is in rural areas that have never undertaken comprehensive planning before, but are now concerned about the impacts of inappropriate development on dearly loved landscapes.”

Click here to see the Mountain Landscapes Initiative Presentation.

Please visit the Western Planner Web site at www.westernplanner.org to view the preliminary Conference Schedule and registration information.

WPR and PAW are also looking for sponsors and presenters. If you are interested in sponsoring or presenting for the conference, please contact Brian Frampton at BFrampton@wenatcheewa.gov or 509-888-5253.

You will also find 2010 Western Planner Award nomination information on the WP Web site. Think about a planner or a project you would like to nominate for the Western Planner of the Year; the Sheldon D. Gerber Award for Environmental Excellence; or the infamous Lester award.

For more information on The Western Planner journal, please contact WP Editor Debbie Ehlers at dseconsulting@msn.com or 307-234-9442.

The course is being taught by award winning university professor of political science Dr. Steffen Schmidt. He has been teaching and doing research for the past 40 years, and currently dedicates his time to coastal policy and identity theft issues. He is the lead author of the country’s most widely adopted introductory college textbook, “American Government and Politics Today.” Dr. Schmidt provides weekly political analysis for Iowa Public Radio, periodically contributes to CNN en Español, and works as the chief political and foreign correspondent for InsiderIowa.com.

More information on the course can be found at www.coastalpolicy.org

To register, please visit: http://www.distance.iastate.edu/registration/registration.php

The National Association of County Planners and The County Planning Division of the American Planning Association invite you to attend their annual meeting on Sunday, April 11, 2010 (11:45-12:45) during the Annual Conference of the American Planning Association in New Orleans, Louisiana. Please refer to your conference agenda for the specific room location. Items on the meeting agenda will include announcing the awards for “Excellence in County Planning.”

The National Association of County Planners and the County Planning Division of APA are teaming up to recognize excellence in county planning and plan implementation.

Eligibility

Nominations may be submitted for a county plan / implementation (adopted within the last five calendar years) that demonstrates leadership, innovation, and commitment to ethical planning principles and civic engagement.

Judging Criteria

Submittals will be reviewed by a panel of members from the National Association of County Planners and the County Planning Division of APA and evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Originality – To what extent does the submission present a visionary approach or innovative concept that results in a meaningful advancement of the planning process?
• Transferability – To what extent is there a potential application in other areas or to other projects? How does this work increase our understanding of planning principles?
• Quality – To what extent is there excellence in thought, writing, analysis, graphics, and ethical planning principles?
• Implementation – To what extent is the plan or program effective as evidenced by its degree of post-completion or post-adoption activity?
• Comprehensiveness – To what extent have planning principles been observed, especially in considering the plan’s / project’s effects on other public objectives?

Nomination Submittal Must Include (digital submittals encouraged)

• Complete name and contact information for the nominator and nominee. Also include a brief description (urban / suburban / rural)  and size category for the county (small = pop. under 150,000, medium = pop. between 150,000-499,999, large = pop. over 500,000)
• List of other contacts including media
• 5 hard or electronic copies of a narrative (not to exceed 3 letter-sized pages) describing the plan and associated implementation activities which describe the setting, process, significance to planning, innovative achievements, and outcomes
• 5 hard or electronic copies of the planning document and any other relevant support materials

ALL MATERIALS MUST BE RECIEVED BY 5:00 PM EST ON MARCH 5, 2010.

Please send all nomination materials to: Judy Francis, AICP, NCDENR, 2090 Hwy. 70, Swannanoa, NC  28778

Winners will be notified by March 21 and invited to attend the awards presentation at the Annual Conference of the American Planning Association on April 11, 2010.

With the launch of a web page called Planning Near Pipelines, there is now available in one place a wide range of resources so that development proposed for lands near large gas and oil pipelines can be carried out with the least risk to both the public and the pipelines.

On-line at http://mrsc.org/subjects/pubsafe/transpipes.aspx, Planning Near Pipelines is an important source of information for local government officials, land use planners, developers, pipeline operators, attorneys, emergency responders, and other stakeholders. Here is where to learn about good land use practices that can be put in place before residential, commercial, or public development is considered for an area where a large pipeline already exists.

This web page is just one component of a federally-funded project awarded to the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and its partners to improve land use planning practices near pipelines. Over the next year, local governments in Washington State will be able to obtain free technical assistance to help them understand and implement these practices. The project will also include publication of electronic newsletters, the hosting of an on-line discussion group, and presentations to Washington State stakeholder organizations.

Among the on-line resources are a series of practical and optional steps—Recommended Practices—that local governments, developers, pipeline operators and others should consider before proposals to develop land near pipelines are drawn up. These Recommended Practices, which were developed by the Pipelines and Informed Planning Alliance (PIPA), are in the final stages of adoption. PIPA is a task force of stakeholders brought together by the federal government from across the nation to help rapidly-growing communities resolve land use issues as they expand into areas that were sparsely populated when large gas and oil pipelines were built.

Other resources available on the Planning Near Pipelines web page include sample ordinances for implementing some of the Recommended Practices, as well as on-line links to laws, regulations, organizations, and governmental agencies involved with pipeline safety and land use planning.

Although free technical assistance is available only to Washington State local governments, everyone is encouraged to subscribe to the electronic newsletter or join the on-line discussion group. For further information about the grant activities, contact these grant partners: Municipal Research and Services Center (jdoherty@mrsc.org) or the Pipeline Safety Trust (info@pstrust.org).

In addition to MRSC and PST, other AWC project partners are the Northwest Gas Association, the Washington State Association of Counties, the Washington State Citizens’ Committee on Pipeline Safety, and the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission.

source: http://www.fs.fed.us/openspace/fote/literature.html

source: http://www.fs.fed.us/openspace/fote/sensitivity.html