A Letter from Cliff David, President of Heritage Conservancy
As President of Heritage Conservancy, I’ve witnessed first-hand the rapid development of the southeastern area of Pennsylvania. I am grateful to the founders of our organization, who 50+ years ago realized the need for professional land use planning and conservation-based design. Regional planning, an effective tool to prevent urban sprawl, is one of the most important ways of balancing sustainable growth with protecting our open spaces and vital natural resources. Throughout our organization’s history we have had to develop innovative land conservation and historic preservation strategies to preserve our natural and historic heritage. These strategies have proven successful. Despite the pressures of overdevelopment, our area has retained much of its beautiful view sheds of rolling hills, protected farmland, historic homes and a wonderful diversity of wildlife.
One of the main strategies that Heritage Conservancy has used successfully is our Lasting Landscapes® Initiative, as it unites open space protection and historic preservation at the “landscape level.” Utilizing ACRES, a comprehensive five-step process: Analysis, Community-based Planning, Resource Protection, Environmental Engagement and Sustainability Nurturing, Heritage Conservancy’s approach is to first identify and map significant landscapes that contain both natural and historic resources, and then develop and implement protection techniques to sustain their integrity. A Lasting Landscape can range from a relatively small area of concentrated natural and cultural resources to large areas with regional context, such as a significant watershed.
The boundaries of a Lasting Landscape may be defined by historic context, such as the limits of a historic district, by significant viewsheds of both cultural and natural features, by the presence of critical wildlife habitat, or by the extent of a relatively undisturbed natural area. When these natural and cultural elements unite in a way that enhances the areas’ integrity and beauty, we consider these locations ideal opportunities for Lasting Landscapes.
Lasting Landscapes provides a single preservation strategy that:
. combines complementary natural and historic resources
. establishes large contiguous preserved areas
. achieves preservation objectives within an area’s cultural heritage and regional context
. involves (engages) local communities
Heritage Conservancy currently has seven Lasting Landscapes that serve as the focal points of our work to protect the natural and historic heritage in parts of eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey.
.Bushkill Creek Watershed
.Cooks Creek Watershed
.Forks of the Neshaminy
.Musconetcong River Valley
.Pidcock Creek Watershed
.Quakertown Swamp
.Rt. 113 Heritage Corridor
This model has been so effective that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is now using a similar approach on a statewide level to prevent urban sprawl and to protect open space and wildlife habitat. There is more work to do but I feel a sense of gratification knowing that we will leave a lasting legacy of clean air, safe water and fresh food for generations to come.