SMART GROWTH ALABAMA

A two hour overview for the:

Alabama League of Municipalities

November 21, 2002

Jacksonville State University

• Director, Environmental Policy and Information Center

• Director, JSU Field Schools

• Chairman, Chief Ladiga Trail Board

• Chairman, ACEI, AGIC and AMTC

• Board Member: FW, TNC, JPA

The Speakers

• Pete Conroy - Overview and Ecotourism

• Katherine Ennis - APA and a National View

• Andrew Gerachis – Alabama Main Steet

• Phillip Wiedmeyer - Brownfields

• Steve McKinney – Mapping Your Future

• Paul Kennedy – Agricultural Sustainability

WHAT’S IT CALLED?

• SMART GROWTH

• SUSTAINED GROWTH

• SUSTAINABLE DEVELPOMENT

• LONG RANGE PLANING

• GROWTH MANAGEMENT

• COMMUNITY SUCCESS

WHAT’S IT ABOUT ?

• “Excessive government and limitless regulation.”

• “An intellectual disease that is sweeping the country.”

WHAT’S IT REALLY ABOUT?

• A reinvestment in our cities.

• A concerted effort to avoid an abandonment of developed infrastructure.

• A renewed effort to protect the special places, like the farmland and forests that we all hold dear.

THE BASIC PREMISE?

GROWTH IS BOTH DESIREABLE AND

INEVITABLE

ANOTHER BASIC PREMISE?

• SOME PLACES ARE GROWING TOO MUCH .

• OTHER PLACES AREN’T GROWING ENOUGH!

WHAT’S IT REALLY ABOUT?

• Increasing Transportation Choices

• Increasing Housing Choices

• Improving Health and Quality of Life

• Limiting Sprawl

• Revitalizing Communities

• Using Common Sense

ECOTOURISM

Alabama’s #2 top industry?

TOURISM

ECOTOURISM

• Annual Economic benefit of:

• Anniston Museum of Natural History?

• Weiss Lake

• $6-7 MILLION

• $201 MILLION

ECOTOURISM

Annual economic benefit of:

Bird Watchers?

Wildlife Watchers?

Outdoor Recreation?

• $6-7 BILLION

• $20 BILLION

• $75 BILLION

ALABAMA IS THE PLACE!

• TOP IN BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

• TOP IN GEOPYSICAL DIVERSITY

NORTHEAST ALABAMA PROGRESS

• Little River Canyon National Preserve

• Weiss Lake

• Dugger Mountain Wilderness

• Talladega National Forest

• Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge

• Cheaha Wilderness

• Scenic Byway, Pinhoti and CLT

Some History…

• 2000 - Governor’s Conference on

Smart Growth and Ecotourism

• 2002 – Governor’s Conference on Smart Growth and Brownfields Redevelopment

• 2003 – Governor’s Conference on

Smart Growth and ???

Contact Information:

• www.jsu.edu/depart/epic/

• JSU # 256-782-8010