Thursday, March 15, 2012

UPDATES

Sorry I have been away!  But I am back:

Meetings:  NTAEP is meeting Next Wednesday at the Spring Creek BBQ in Irving, Texas.  Speaker and topic:

Barbara Koerble, AICP, CFM 

North Texas: A Green Future?
 
Vision North Texas is an award winning partnership of private, public, and academic organizations that has held stakeholder workshops throughout the 16-county North Texas region to find out what people think about our region's future. Through Vision North Texas, leaders and experts around the region have worked together to imagine a future that is better than ‘business as usual’. North Texas 2050 is a major new ‘gamebook’ for our region that was released at the Regional Summit 2010.  In addition, North Texas 2050  has been shaped by research and the experience of experts in transportation, land use and development, housing, the environment, health and all the other issues that will determine how livable and successful North Texas will be in the coming decades.

 How can we ensure that North Texas retains its green spaces, clean air and water amidst expanding development and a rapidly growing population? Retaining and managing natural areas is one of the five major policy areas in North Texas 2050. "Greenprinting" is one strategy for identifying high-priority natural areas for preservation, so they can serve as prototypes for an emerging Regional Ecosystem Framework.  Low Impact Development (LID)is another strategy that will be featured in an upcoming North Texas competition. The presentation will address other area initiatives to protect north Texas watersheds, tree canopies and ecosystems.