Government Regulation of Urban Sprawl
While driving through Kansas on Highway 54 and looking at the beautifully green farmland rolling along for miles, it is hard to believe that in many places it is being destroyed by urban sprawl, until you get within 15 miles of Witchita and see where it has happened. Since the early 1980's, over 4 million acres of farmland have been consumed by urban sprawl ("Farming"1). Despite the fact that such a large amount of farmland has been lost, Edward L. Hudgins, Editor of Regulation magazine and Director of Regulatory Studies at the CATO Institute, believes:
Whatever your preference, it should be none of the government's business nor the business of your fellow citizens. Ideally you should live where and as you wish, and leave others to do the same. (Cooper 881b)
Apparently, Mr. Hudgins has not yet been informed that this is not an ideal world; this is a world where greedy, irresponsible land developers build subdivisions and never once think or care about how it affects the land. This disrespect for the land is what has forced the government and "fellow citizens", in the form of preservation organizations, to use tools such as land trusts, protective zoning and tax breaks to protect greatly needed farmland; because without their help, it would become extinct.
Many people have reacted to the ever-growing threat of urban sprawl by joining together and forming farmland trusts (organizations that work to protect farmlands through conservation easements, education and assisting government in creating public policies). Conservation easements give the farmer monetary compensation in exchange for restricting future land development of his property; this program is based on the idea that a land owner has a number of rights to that land, one of them being the choice of how to use that land. Once a land trust organization purchases the
agricultural conservation easement of a piece of property, that organization then has the right to restrict future land uses that may affect future agricultural use ("Purchase"1). The purchase of conservation easements is an effective tool that is also used by organizations attempting to protect ranchland and open space (Cooper871inb). A second tool used by land trusts, education, attempts to make the public aware of how urban sprawl is threatening farmland and why this threat must be stopped ("About"1). The last, and most important, way these organizations are protecting endangered farmland is by working with the government at all levels to form public policies dealing with the problems the farmers and farmland of this country are facing.
The Land Reform Act of 1967 permitted the state of Hawaii to redistribute land by condemning and acquiring private property from landlords (the lessors) in order to sell it to another private owner, in this case, their tenants (the lessees). The Hawaii State Legislature passed the Land Reform Act after discovering that nearly forty-seven percent (47%) of the state was owned by only seventy-two (72) private land owners. That meant that only forty-nine percent of Hawaii was owned by the State and Federal Govermnet.The contested statute gave lessees of single family homes the right to invoke the government's power of eminent domain to purchase the property that they leased, even if the landowner objected. The challengers of the statue (the land owners) claimed that such a condemnation was not a taking for public use because the property, once condemned by the state, was promptly turned over to the lessee (a private ...
A number of ideas, suggestions, and points can be extracted from “Illinois Bus Ride,” a passage from Aldo Leopold’s collection of essays entitled A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. However, there must be one main thesis that the author is attempting to get through to his audience. Leopold argues that we Americans have manipulated the landscape and ecosystem of the prairie so that it seems to be nothing more that a tool at our disposal. All aspects of what was once a beautiful, untamed frontier have been driven back further and further, until they were trapped in the ditches.
Conservation banking was modeled after the U.S. wetland mitigation banking system and the two programs share many similarities. However, unlike the wetland mitigation system, conservation offsets do not have a stated ‘no net loss’ goal, but instead have a species recovery goal. Both conservation and wetlands mitigation banks are privately or publicly owned lands which are protected and managed for its ecological value. By doing this, the bank sponsor generates habitat or wetland or stream credits to sell to developers or transportation departments who need to offset their impacts and comply with the legal requirements for the permitting of development or roadway projects. Both types of banks offer benefits to both the landowner that owns the natural resource and the developer that needs to purchase the credits. The landowner can take portions of their property that may have been considered unusable and turn it into an asset. The developer can streamline their permitting process by purchasing credits instead of implementing a mitigation plan themselves.
On January 30th of the year 2018 the Shasta County Board of Supervisors conducted a meeting to cover a broad range of topics concerning the county and its citizens. The meeting began with the discussion of agritourism in the county. Richard Simons, the Resource Management Director, gave a presentation that highlighted his goals and suggestions to improve viability and the functionality of agritourism in the county. The board members were very engaged with his presentation and asked many thoughtful and provoking questions. They were especially concerned with how the citizens and land owners involved in agritourism would be affected by these new propositions. After the supervisors were satisfied and their questions were answered they unanimously supported the decision and the next topic was addressed.
1) If they feel there are more suitable methods for land management.
In this report, I will detail the factors that contribute to the price of farmland in Iowa. Agriculture plays an essential role in the economy of this state. As one of the top soybean and corn producers in the United States, an understanding of the cost of land correlates to the cost of these crops……
The rezoning of 125th street has been a topic of controversy and has yet to be approved. The Department of City Planning believes rezoning of 125th street will bring positive economic changes. I personally believe that these changes would negatively affect the residents and business owners of Harlem. According to the New York City’s Planning Commission, the rezoning will bring new business and housing. Residents and business owners disagree because they believe this plays a bigger role in promoting further “gentrification.” I believe that Harlem should be able to keep its cultural heritage while still promoting and modifying economic growth.
... as changing zoning and offerring incentives to attract farmers markets and supermarkets to food deserts. Cities can increase access by guaranteeing public transportation routes. And farmers’ markets can accept EBT (electronic benefit transfer), which would make it easier for those on assistant programs to have access to fresh local fruits and vegetables. Seattle area farmers’ markets are already doing this. Community gardens can be an effective way of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among residents. Cities can encourage this through zoning polices and grants.
Throughout the nineteenth century, Americans advanced westward at an unparalleled pace. Motivated by greed, these pioneers plundered through the previously plush territory, believing the nation’s resources to be inexhaustible and failing to contemplate possible consequences. In particular, anxious lumbermen and ranchers rapaciously ravaged the land in pursuit of instant profits. Fortunately, a few prudent people recognized the need for protective legislation. This nascent environmentalist movement was officially recognized when the federal government claimed responsibility over the preservation of the nation’s natural resources in 1877, with the passage of the Desert Land Act. Though this legislation was insignificant in itself, its creation
It was truly upsetting and heartbreaking to see that the South Central Los Angeles garden was to be tear down by bulldozer. During our discussion, my sister was shocked and angry at Ralph Horowitz, the owner of the land. Horowitz said that he would sell his land for approximately 15 million dollars, which the farmers and supporters were able to fundraise that money but he declined to sell it. What made my sister frustrated was the idea that he originally got the land for 5 million dollars, but he wanted way more money than he originally got. In addition, Horowitz sees the garden as “no good cause nor good conduct for it,” my sister opposed to his thinking about the garden because it was for a great cause. The garden served as a purpose to the local Latino residents of Los Angeles, they were able to grow crops to feed their families. Furthermore, the garden is a great idea because the crops are organic and does not damage the environment. In the documentary, the land Ralph Horowitz owned in 1986 was sold for 5 million dollars to the city to build a trash burning site, yet was not taken into action. Rufina Juarez, who is a South Central Farmer leader, discussed about how after the land was sold, it became an eminent domain. What my cousin and I was shock about was how the property was once a city owned land then become a property owned land without the farmers being informed about it. Jan Perry did a
Traditional agriculture requires massive forest and grassland removal to obtain land necessary to farm on. Deforestation and overgrazing has caused erosion flooding, and enabled the expansion of deserts. But with drainage systems, leveling, and irrigation provided by the Green Rev, all this terra deforming will unlikely happen again. We can retain clean air and lessen the global warming effect caused by deforestation.Many people argue that a revamp in agriculture will be way too expensive and unrealistic especially for those poor farmers in third world countries. However many times, they exaggerate the price.
The expansion of the United States is such a vital part of American history, yet some often forget how it all happened. Many thriving settlers were given an extraordinary opportunity starting on January 1, 1863 that would end up laying the floor work for many Midwestern and Western citizens today. The rights and responsibilities to live on and maintain 160 acres of land may seem like a lot to take in for a student learning about an Act about land from the 1860s. However, think about all the people the Homestead Act of 1862 affected. There was a lot of pressure on the original homesteaders to make good use of their newfound land, the government was giving out land that wasn’t exactly theirs, and the Native American would have some their rights stolen.
Chambers, Robert. Rural Development: Putting the Last First. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993.
Many countries across the world have not got an endangered species act that is strong enough to protect varying species from the destruction of humans. All over the globe humans are determined in building more houses and roads to supply the growing population of it's residence, making their lives easier but not sparing a thought to the many habitats, lives and even species that they will destroy when doing so. A recent local case has been the building of the BNRR. When building houses and roads fields, rivers, ponds, and reservoirs get destroyed along with many animals habitat, leaving them with no where to live and will probably die. The whole point of crop farming (monoculture) is to remove a mixed population of trees, shrubs etc and replace it with a dense population