Talking Points

Haphazard development needlessly damages the environment.

• Increasing populations and haphazard development (sprawl) are resulting in the rapid and disproportionate (relative to population growth) loss of open land in the U.S.
• The areas most affected by sprawl are those surrounding urban population centers – productive regions where most of the country’s dairy products and nearly all of its fruit and vegetables are produced.
• Sprawl results in the loss and fragmentation of wildlife habitats. In the U.S., the most frequent cause of species extinction is habitat loss.
• Sprawl not only reduces the area available to wildlife, but also decreases the diversity and total number of native species, and increases the risk of the spread of often harmful invasive, non-native species.
• Other negative effects of sprawl include the degradation of water resources, decreased health of natural communities, increased public services costs, and increased taxes.

For more information on sprawl and how to avoid it, see SERC’s “Suburban Sprawl” Policy Issues Package.

Healthy ecosystems benefit human communities.

• Native plant and animal species in their natural habitats – healthy ecosystems – perform many functions beneficial to humans including air and water purification, stormwater management, pest control, efficient nutrient cycling, soil enrichment, and crop pollination.
• Many new medicines and other scientific breakthroughs come from the study of diverse plants and animals.
• Healthy ecosystems provide the setting and resources for outdoor recreation, tourism, healthy human communities, and the ranch, forestry, and timber businesses.

For more information on the importance of biological diversity, see SERC’s “Biodiversity” Policy Issues Package.

Conservation is good, but smart conservation is better.

• Natural resources must be actively protected to maintain healthy ecosystems in the face of growing population and development pressures.
• There are public and private groups currently working to protect our natural resources through conservation, but without the benefit of an overall guiding vision or coordinated implementation.
• Many conservation efforts are focused on a single species or resource, or are emergency measures taken after the health of native species and landscapes degenerates. This approach tends to be expensive, divisive, and ineffective.

Green infrastructure is smart conservation.

• Green infrastructure means considering conservation priorities before city growth plans are made, new infrastructure built, or more land developed.
• Green infrastructure provides a well-designed framework for both future conservation and future development. Green infrastructure helps avoid sprawl by discouraging haphazard development into natural areas (including key ecosystems, forestlands, and agricultural areas) and encouraging smart growth (resulting in compact, mixed-use neighborhoods and livable communities).
• Green infrastructure programs are based on a wide range of information about your state’s natural resources. Green infrastructure is grounded in important ecological, environmental, economic, and planning principles, and helps plan for smart growth and healthy ecosystems at the city, regional, and statewide levels.
• Green infrastructure is smart conservation on a multi-species, multi-resource, and statewide scale. This approach is more effective, more flexible, less expensive, and less likely to be divisive than piecemeal, limited, and emergency-based conservation.
• Green infrastructure programs complement and help coordinate, direct, and streamline existing conservation efforts by identifying your state’s green infrastructure network and prioritizing areas to be protected within it. This approach maximizes the benefit realized from public and private conservation dollars.

Green infrastructure works within the context of human activities.

• Green infrastructure supports the expansion of a public and privately-owned network of protected natural areas. It recognizes that certain resources will require the highest degree of conservation stewardship, some areas should support public use, and other regions will support private uses.
• Green infrastructure uses various methods to protect your state’s natural resources, with an emphasis on incentive-based policies. It recognizes the benefits of private property and supports owners’ rights to enjoy and benefit from their property.
• Green infrastructure takes advantage of the ecological benefits of well-managed agricultural, ranch, and forest lands while promoting economic profitability, sustainability, and social responsibility.
• Green infrastructure establishes a more predictable economic environment, where communities, businesses, and developers understand which regions need protection and which are available for development and other private uses.
• Natural resource-based activities (including hunting, fishing, and forestry) are assured of the continued health of the resources they rely on, within the context of a statewide green infrastructure program.
• Public involvement is a priority of green infrastructure programs. Local governments, organizations, and residents are regularly updated on the program and its plans and asked for their input. Special measures, including public hearings, are taken to inform and involve local residents when a major conservation project is proposed in their area.

Green infrastructure has many benefits.

• Green infrastructure fosters healthy human and natural communities, and increases quality of life by promoting more beautiful and livable cities.
• Green infrastructure maintains and strengthens your state’s natural resources, including clean air and water; parks, reserves, scenic areas, and outdoor recreation sites; native plants and animals; and, beneficial ecosystem processes, including stormwater management, crop pollination, and pest control.
• Green infrastructure can provide economic benefits by increasing tourism, increasing property values, providing new “green” business opportunities, and decreasing taxes and other costs by avoiding the additional public services and infrastructure required by sprawl.
• Green infrastructure provides a well-designed framework for both conservation and development by identifying a network of protected natural areas, based on a wide range of scientific information.
• Green infrastructure helps improve the effectiveness of existing public and private conservation programs.
• Green infrastructure’s comprehensive, informed, long-range planning means state residents, nonprofit organizations, and local and tribal governments know the context of, and receive support for, local planning and conservation efforts. At the same time, developers, businesses, farmers, and others who depend on natural resources for their livelihood know which regions of the state can accommodate which activities, leading to a more stable business environment.