The 24-page report charges that many parcels that are considered "high value" in terms of natural resources and recreational value have been turned over to development while tracts of "minimal environmental importance" have been preserved. Philadelphia-based GreenSpace Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 land-preservation groups, published the study.
Titled, "A Regional Open Space Priorities Report," the study covers Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware Counties in Southeastern PA. Developed land in that five-county region is increasing at a rate of 33% in comparison with a population increase of 3%. The report calls the 11-to-one ratio an alarming trend that has been underway since 1982.
Within the 459,000 acres the study identifies as "high priorities" for preservation are Wissahickon Creek northwest of Philadelphia, nearly 200,000 acres of primarily farmland in Chester County, and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge.
While it recommends that one acre of open space be preserved for each acre of development, GreenSpace Alliance claims it is not anti-growth. Higher-density development in some areas, the authors say, would help slow urban sprawl and revitalize area neighborhoods while also preserving open, "high-value" land.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources and William Penn Foundation funded the study.
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