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	"Smart Conservation"—Good for the Environment, Good for the Economy By Stephen R. Pritchard, Secretary of Environmental Affairs As Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), one of my major initiatives is called "Smart Conservation." This strategy brings the conservation of air, land, oceans, and water resources together in a comprehensive approach that looks at traditional environmental protection and restoration issues in an innovative way. This progressive stewardship model integrates management systems, expands partnerships and leverage opportunities, and supports communities in adopting effective land use planning and development designs that creatively use incentives and conservation restrictions. The results—balanced land use management decisions—make a big difference for the environment. Wildlife habitat remains intact, protecting biodiversity; natural landscapes are preserved, allowing for natural stormwater filtering and recharge that reduces pollution and protects drinking water; and homes are located closer to jobs and services, reducing car trips and improving air quality. Balanced land use management decisions are not just good for the environment-they are good for the economy. Sprawling development is expensive, requiring extensive infrastructure such as roads, sewers, and water service (and their continual maintenance). Building homes far from economic centers increases commuting time and costs, and with high gas prices, this can have a big impact on family budgets. And of course, environmental impacts have an economic price tag as forests and fields make way for subdivisions and strip malls, removing nature's water filtration system, which must then be replaced by costly drinking water, stormwater, and sewage treatment options. Finally, alternative approaches to sprawling development are good for developers (concentrated development and redevelopment that leaves open space intact has lower infrastructure costs), realtors (the value of the houses in these developments is higher), and entrepreneurs who are helping to build the way to a balanced and sustainable future. The Coastal Smart Growth Program, which is featured in this edition of Coastlines, was built as part of my "Smart Conservation" initiative . The Smart Growth Program focuses on promoting Open Space Residential Design (OSRD), Low Impact Development (LID), and other techniques that you will read about in the pages that follow. These techniques use planning, design, and natural landscapes to protect the environment, while lowering development costs. This EOEA/CZM partnership has been extremely successful. Highlights include: The release of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Toolkit, which provides local officials and the business community with new methods to guide and promote sustainable and environmentally sound development and growth. (See http://www.mass.gov/envir/sgtk.htm) The LID Working Group, a statewide public-private partnership of local, state, and federal agencies; environmental organizations; regional planning agencies; and representatives from planning, engineering, law, and development firms. The group is pooling financial and technical resources to develop technical manuals and fact sheets, regulatory models, and associated outreach materials that promote LID. The adoption of dozens of local bylaws that promote OSRD, LID, and similar "smart growth" techniques in communities across the Commonwealth. Through these efforts, "Smart Conservation" is a real win-win-benefiting the environment and the economy and improving the quality of life in Massachusetts, today and in the future. I hope you will find these tools and articles useful. Sincerely, Stephen R. Pritchard Secretary, Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
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