People & Perspectives

Keys to Success: Part I

Green Infrastructure Planning Building Partnerships and Relationships

Case Study: Green Infrastructure Planning – Linking Arkansas

CommunitiesProject Overview & Update

Developing our Stakeholder database

I’m going to talk about…

Strategic, science-based, community-supported

set of tools for coordinating conservation of natural

resourcesand

planning location of growth wisely

Green Infrastructure Planning

Green Infrastructure Planning is…

Highly collaborative

Inclusive of the GREATER community

Invites a wide range of perspectives

Building Partnerships & Relationships

Who regulates

it?

Think creatively to identify stakeholders

Who makes money

from it?

Any others?

Who plays

there? Who knows all about

it?Who depends on it?

Those whose approval or participation is REQUIRED

Governmental agencies at federal, state, regional, & local levels: Planning, Transportation, Urban Forestry, Recreation, GIS, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Economic Development

Adjacent public, private, or corporate landowners

Tourism, travel, and recreation industries

Development and Real Estate businesses

Community of experts: Landscape Architecture, Conservation Sciences, GIS, Biology, Environmental Law, Water Management, Agriculture

Educational community: K-12 students & teachers, graduate students, professors in Earth Sciences, Ecology, Conservation Biology, Landscape Architecture

Elected officials and those with political power or influence

Conservancies & Land trusts

Conservation & Recreational groups

Volunteer groups, Neighborhood and Homeowner Associations, Civic groups, Historical societies

Who might that actually be?

Consider resources of fellow stakeholdersBe sure there are rewards for everyoneAim for developing network of participantsGive them time to developBenefits:

Pooling resourcesFoster innovative solutionsReduce duplicationIncrease public awareness of participant groups

Developing Partnerships

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Case StudyThe beginnings of

Green Infrastructure Planningin Northwest Arkansas

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Moving this direction for years now…

2002 – Urban Ecosystem Analysis Benton & Washington Counties, Arkansas: Calculating the Value of Nature, American Forest, Inc.

2006 – Urban Forest Conservation Assessment for Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association & The Nature Conservancy.

2008 – Green Infrastructure Planning – Linking Arkansas Communities, Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association & Beaver Water District

2010 & beyond– Reach out to the rest of the Northwest Arkansas Region with Green Infrastructure Planning and plant seeds throughout Arkansas

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Develop a regional strategic conservation plan in the form of a Green Infrastructure Network

Map that encompasses elements of:Natural environment

ForestsWater resourcesRare & valuable habitats

Cultural heritageRural & agricultural character

Recreational valueParks & trails

Project Summary: Objective

1 of 6 Pilot Study Grants awarded by USFS Southern Region through Arkansas Forestry Commission’s Urban Forestry Program

$25,000 matching grant to Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association

in partnership withBeaver Water District

Green Infrastructure Planning – Linking Arkansas Communities

Project Summary: Funding

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Project Summary: Training

The Conservation Fund in Shepherdstown, WV

Strategic Conservation Planning Using the Green Infrastructure Approach

GIS Tools for Strategic Conservation Planning

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Project Summary: Study Area

The Study Area began as an area encompassing City Limits and Planning Areas of Farmington, Greenland, Johnson, & Fayetteville and the Ozark National Forest, Wedington Wildlife Management Unit with adjacent unincorporated areas of Washington County. It proved easier to work with just a rectangle around these features; boundaries now fall 1500 m. beyond the most extreme points in the cardinal directions as above.

Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, Barbara Elaine Boland, August 2008

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Our Work: Identifying Potential Stakeholders

EnvironmentalAcademics, private consultants, NGOs, and governmental agencies:

U of A (Biology, Geography, Geology), County Extension Agency, ECO, Inc. (NGO), TNC, Sierra Club, NRCS, ANRC, Friends of Lake Wedington, ADEQ, IRWP, ANHC, AR Native Plant SocietyHeritage

Historians, Historical societies, farmers & old timers, Land Trusts: Washington County Historical Society, Farm Bureau, AR Historic

Preservation Program, Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods, NWA Land TrustRecreation

City Parks & Trails, Recreation Groups, Recreational Suppliers, Travel Industry:

Johnson Parks & Trails, Boy Scouts of America, Bicycle Coalition, Pack Rat, Fayetteville Visitors’ Bureau,

Ozark Society, Arkansas Canoe ClubLanduse

Developers & Contractors, Transportation & Planning Agencies, Chambers of Commerce:

County Planning, Farmington Planning, Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, Rausch Coleman, StreetSmart NW Arkansas

Presentations

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Our Work: Invitation to Participate

325 Invited 115 Attended

60 Volunteered

Heritag

e Working Group

Land Use Working Group

Awareness Working Group

Environmental Working Group

Parks & Trails Working Group

Our Work: Organization of People

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Working Groups…use the Green Infrastructure Principles

and your expertise to…Investigate, Envision, and Recordelements for Green InfrastructureNetwork mapDocument decision making criteria Research and produce compendiumof implementation strategiesIdentify educational outreach and public forum itemsJanuary 15, 2009 target dateReported out February 8, 2009

Our Work: Development of Working Group Maps

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Asked: Have we included everything we need to?Is there anything that shouldn’t be there?Are there specific areas or features you are concerned about?

Took the notes, checked them against our maps, and made some updates

PRESENTATIONSWedington Woods Johnson City

LeadersLake Wedington Recreation Area Fayetteville

Environmental Fayetteville Public Library (2)Action Committee

Fayetteville Green Drinks UofA AnnuitantsGreenland Planning Fayetteville Lions

ClubFayetteville Garden Club Fayetteville Exchange ClubFarmington City Leaders Changing Roles WorkshopEPA Green Infrastructure (7/29-30/2010)Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Our Work: Going Public w/ Working Group Maps

Green Infrastructure P lanning – L ink ing Arkansas Communit ies

Our Work: Wrap upIntegration of Working Group Mapsinto Network Map nearly completed

Final Report due out July 1, 2010