A voice for the Piedmont

Wetlands are protected by law to promote water quality and subsequently, produce various other benefits to Society such as fishing (recreational and commercial) and hunting. This is due to the large number of species which spend at least part of their life history events in wetlands.

Mountainous regions are protected due to their erodibility and especially in the Southern Appalachians (http://www.appalachian.org/) their high biotic diversity.

Please keep in mind that "protected" may mean any combination of conservation and preservation. Essentially, conservation = wise use and preservation = no use (Conservation vs. Preservation). There are instances to implement one principle over the other or use some combination of both, as in natural area reserves that exhibit concentric spheres or differing degrees of land use practices.

The idea has been applied ot various disciplines including urban social structure (Burgess Model). The concept in natural resource planning involves placing the least used (i.e., wilderness) at the center with increasing amounts of human activity (i.e., agriculture, forest product extraction, human habitation, etc.) in bands moving out from the center. So, in essense a reverse of the theory applied to urban settlements where the highest density of people is located at the center.

But, I digress....

The Piedmont Region has largely been ignored by conservation and preservation organizations but the time I hope is coming. We need a voice for the Piedmont. Farm and timber land (i.e., the coveted "open space") is disappearing from the landscape. The most meaningful set asides have come in the form of State Parks, Wildlife Management Areas, State Forests and notably here in Virginia; in our various historic National Battlefields. County and city parks also contribute to keeping open space on the landscape.

National Wildlife Refuges primarily occupy coastal wetlands that are important areas of migratory birds and National Parks tend to have larger tracts in scenic mountain areas (the exceptions are the battlefields previously mentioned). The National Forests are large but are primarily west of the Blue Ridge.
Private land trusts and non-governmental organizations too have looked to the sea or mountains in their priorities for land conservation and preservation.

Land-use planning for the Piedmont seems to have been an unspoken "it's not a wetland nor highly erodible, so let's build on it!" The human population in the region is growing and looks like it will continue to do so with what appear to be entire towns in the Northeast or Midwest emigrating to central North Carolina and other Piedmont states. Wildlife habitat is being fragmented by an expanded road system feeding the increasing sprawl of the urban centers along the eastern edge of the region. Open spaces are being disconnected because corridors between them are filling in with residential and commercial development. Homes are built abutting our state parks, wildlife management areas and other reserves. Suburban zones spread outwardly more or less uncontrolled. Commutes are increasing as people choose to live on mini country estates (a few acres) rather than in a suburb (fraction of an acre lots) or city apartments.

The land being built upon are the Piedmont's farms and woodlots. How can we sustain the current buzz about "buying locally" if there isn't even room for gardens? Okay, I am taking things to the extreme but the rampant growth seen in the region over the past couple decades has to make you think, "where will it end or what will we do about it?" It is not difficult to envision an ever-expanding zone of human habitation, because in many localities, it is happening.

It's not that I am speaking out about all development during these rough economic times. There are plenty of places to rent or buy right now (not going to digress again). We just need to look ahead and think about the process and consider ways to wisely move forward. Ten years from now, if things don't change, we are going to wish we had a little more foresight. How hypocritical is it to shout for the conservation and preservation of exotic, overseas places when we continue to pave our backyards?