Introduction
For many cities and counties, it is almost impossible to conserve Colorado's landscape resources, especially along the front hills. On the one hand, the high cost of public land acquisition and the lack of order in infrastructure construction hinder a special policy: the state's laws allow the division of 35 acres without respect for zoning and other regulations. This means that owners of land can overturn any unconventional form of planning.
I-25 Conservation Corridor Master Plan
Reason to Be Selected
The disorderly development along the I-25 corridor has led to an unprecedented alliance of environmental groups, land trust organizations, local communities, Douglas County Government and state government departments to provide environmental protection in the region. Under the leadership of landscape architects, the interdisciplinary planning team developed a special set of analytical tools based on limited resources to identify the natural areas most susceptible to urban development disturbance and to analyze key factors in the region, including ornamental, topographic, land cover, natural disasters, and land Value, zoning, land ownership, landscape features, wildlife habitat and migration, groundwater supply, leisure trends, site distribution and building development, etc. After a detailed analysis of these attributes, the project team quickly established an initial vision of providing long-term protection for this important open area. It also marks a major shift in the region between Denver and Colorado Springs.
Highlights:
protective measures
Successful implementation
effective implementation
Details
protective measures: The planning team used the urban development analysis model to predict the most likely priority areas in the corridor, and matched them with areas with important natural and landscape resources to uncover potential conflicts in the scenario and areas requiring priority protection. In addition, by acquiring land or establishing protective easements, the planning team acquired full development rights for 25,000 acres of core sites, while retaining existing leisure and agricultural land.
Successful implementation: With the help of Great Outdoors Colorado trust fund, millions of dollars are allocated, and the team was able to redevelop the planning work and quickly identified the priority protected areas. Through additional fund-raising activities, the team also purchased land originally belonging to high-density development areas, further reducing the density of the planning. In the process of turning "long-term planning" into reality, the complexity of land transactions is also increasing. In order to implement the project, the Natural Conservation Fund also intervened, purchasing 1,300 acres of land along the corridor, giving the public an excellent view of Park Peak.
Effective implementation: The effectiveness of the overall planning of I-25 protection corridors can be assessed through the protection results of important landscapes. Based on rigorous analysis and a series of innovative land conservation measures (including the purchase of undeveloped land, establishment of conservation easements, restriction of development strategies and zoning strategies, etc.), with the help of funds and support provided by state agencies, the original landscape of the foreland zone has been fully protected and irreversible environments destruction is avoided.
Conclusions
The overall plan achieves an unprecedented goal through unique planning tools and development strategies: the creation of more than 100,000 acres of open protected areas along the Colorado Frontier Mountains. Based on the analysis of landscape value, the planning retains a large-scale transitional landscape from the prairie to the peak, including the park peak adjacent to the National Forest Park. Multi party collaboration. Unprecedented strategic cooperation among environmental groups, government departments and private landowners has been crucial to fund-raising and land acquisition. The plan eventually realizes the protection of this important natural corridor, and on this basis makes open space, public entertainment, scenic spots and wildlife habitats reasonable development.
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