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Three area sites make Smart Growth Alliance preservation list Date published: 10/18/2006
By RUSTY DENNEN Conserving large tracts of land with forest, fields and streams are key to balancing the impact of development in a region with rapidly shrinking green space. That's the conclusion of the Washington, D.C.-based Smart Growth Alliance, which has put three Fredericksburg-area sites on its 2006 Regional Conservation Priorities List. The list, announced yesterday by the alliance of business interests and environmental nonprofits, includes: Crow's Nest in eastern Stafford County. Fredericksburg's protected riverfront land. Area historic and cultural sites that are part of the multistate Journey Through Hallowed Ground corridor. "Protection and preservation of significant open space lands and rural landscapes is increasingly important as our region continues to grow," said Lee Epstein, chairman of SGA's conservation subcommittee and lands director with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. "From safeguarding water quality and water supply to a new place for a family outing, conservation investments provide real benefits to Washington-area residents and businesses," he said. SGA Executive Director John Bailey said the priority list, the agency's first, is intended to focus attention on specific sites and development issues. Other sites that made the list include the Prince William County Greenway, Loudoun County Stream Valley Parks, and the Anacostia Watershed Forests in Maryland and the District of Columbia. SGA projects that by 2030, population in the Washington area and its suburbs will grow by 2 million, with 1.6 million jobs created. To that end, it advocates mixed-use, pedestrian and transit-oriented development projects, promotes housing and transportation choices for a range of incomes and conserving significant environmental cultural and recreational resources. Crow's Nest made the list for obvious reasons, Bailey said. "There is urgency a current threat of development." The peninsula between Potomac and Accokeek creeks has been the subject of an ongoing battle between developers and preservationists for decades. The landowner, K&M Properties of McLean, wants to put 688 homes on 3,230 acres now covered by mature hardwood trees. County officials hope to preserve the land and have offered to pay $33.2 million for 2,887 acres. They've threatened to pursue condemnation if K&M doesn't accept. Bailey said SGA recognizes developers using smart growth initiatives, so the organization wanted to do the same in pointing out sites worthy of preservation.
Date published: 10/18/2006
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