Number: 1999-10
WHEREAS, the federal government is involved in the construction of facilities and land development in the United States each year through its departments and financing agencies; and
WHEREAS, all of these office buildings, warehouses, single-family houses, apartment buildings, laboratories, barns, water treatment facilities, highways, recreation facilities, industrial parks and other developments have direct and indirect impacts on the land, water, and air, as well as on the existing wildlife and plant life in the area; and
WHEREAS, these federally-assisted, federally-financed, or federally-owned projects have direct and indirect impacts on the individuals who use these facilities and on those who are in the affected communities; and
WHEREAS, to the extent these projects relocate or encourage the movement of families, businesses, farmers, shoppers, commercial developers, heavy industry, and drivers from more populated areas to less populated areas, these projects lead to use and degradation of undeveloped and less-developed areas that are often invaluable in supporting flora and fauna; and
WHEREAS, with increases in new residential, commercial, and industrial development there is an inevitable need for new or upgraded electric transmission and distribution facilities; water supply and sewage treatment systems; new or improved roads and bridges; and new or enhanced commercial development to support the increase in human activity; and
WHEREAS, these federal lending and building agencies have partial or total control over the location of projects, the size and scope of projects; and
WHEREAS, these decisions of location; size; development versus redevelopment; compact, contiguous development vs. sprawl; and support of central business districts vs. destruction of areas of irreplaceable open space; have a significant impact on the affected areas’ open space resources and their people and how the two interact; and
WHEREAS, sprawl development is fragmenting and destroying essential wildlife habitat and open space at an accelerating rate; and
WHEREAS, such sprawl development is economically inefficient in that it requires higher per capita infrastructure costs for roads, utilities and schools; and
WHEREAS, sprawl development undermines the economic viability of central business districts of cities, towns, and villages, by relocating services and consumers away from existing facilities; and
WHEREAS, sprawl development exacts a heavy social toll on inner city communities by isolating such communities from employment, mass transportation, and recreational and social amenities; and
WHEREAS, these decisions on location and construction of federal projects should be made only after the projects and any alternatives are assessed for their long-term social and environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, “Smart Growth” – the incorporation of cumulative environmental considerations in development decisions including open space preservation, development of mass and alternative transportation, redevelopment and improvements of existing communities – has been employed effectively in various areas of the nation;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 18-21, 1999, in Houston, Texas, calls upon the United States Government financing agencies to recognize the economic, social, and environmental costs of residential, commercial and industrial development and to incorporate these externalities in their decision making processes and procedures; and calls upon the United States Government departments engaged in the planning and construction of facilities, for their use or for any other use, to account for the cumulative effects of this construction and development on the local environments and communities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the United States Government agencies and departments to employ “Smart Growth” techniques such as those recently introduced by the administration to enhance environmental protection and improve overall quality of life for the nation’s residents; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the administration to extend the “Smart Growth” initiatives to development sponsored, approved, subsidized, or otherwise supported by the United States Government.