Grants: Land Use

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Conservation Development Recognition Program 2002

The 2002 Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network Conservation Development Program was designed to follow the successful 2001 program. Based upon the WIN Conservation Development Recognition Program guidelines published in 1999, this program honored developers who employed successful open land or farmland conservation techniques within their projects.

Identifying Priority Conservation: A Green Infrastructure Based Strategy for the Tittabawassee River

East Central Michigan Planning in collaboration with the basin’s land conservancies is developed a green infrastructure based strategy for the identification of priority conservation lands within the Tittabawassee River Watershed. A steering committee made up of members of these conservancies provided project direction and model input based on the working priorities and strategies employed by their respective organizations, while facilitation and strategic visioning was guided by members of the National Park Service RTCA program. The development and need for a green infrastructure based strategy was driven by the diverse needs of these conservancies and the need for a cooperative, systemic approach to resource protection in the Tittabawassee basin. Utilizing the principles of green infrastructure, a strategy was developed which allowed the region’s conservation organizations to evaluate potential protection projects against an overall planned preservation framework while taking into account relative risk of development. Such a strategy can be used on a broad scale to target the most logical properties to protect, and on a much smaller scale for a detailed site analysis of individual ecoblocks. Geographic Information Systems and other planning information systems, utilized in conjunction with the goals and operating strategies of the collaborating organizations, were the predominant tools used in creation of this strategy.

Genesee, Lapeer, Shiawassee Greenway Initiative Project

This project continued the greenways planning activities that began in Midland, Saginaw, and Bay counties to other counties of the watershed. This project included research, planning, design, public involvement, information and education activities. Spearheaded by the University of Michigan-Flint and the Flint River Watershed Coalition, this project connected already planned greenways in the Detroit area and those being planned in mid-Michigan.

Farmland and Open Space Preservation Project

This project developed a voluntary farmland and open space program with the objective of preparing Saginaw County to be eligible for state and federal matching funds for Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs. This project was a partnership between the Saginaw County Chamber-sponsored Vision 2020 project and the Saginaw County Farm Bureau. While the primary objective of the project was to develop a working farmland and open space preservation program, a parallel objective is to increase awareness of the value of conserving these lands. The project focused on partnership building, leadership development, grass-roots education and technical assistance.

Kawkawlin River Watershed Public Education Program and Impervious Surface Analysis

This project had three components: watershed signage, a watershed poster, and an impervious surface analysis. Proposed by a consortium of organizations (Kawkawlin River Conservation Partnership) working in the 250 square mile watershed, the intention of this project was to build general awareness of the watershed (poster/signage) and to look at and review (in cooperation with various agencies) the growing areas of impervious surfaces in the watershed and their corresponding impact on water quality. It was not the intention of the consortium to dictate an anti-growth strategy as part of the impervious surface analysis. Rather, it was to point out better models for growth and land use.