2003 FM – Before Gas Drilling in the CTCDD and Changes to the Master Plan

  

Nature is in a clash with development near Dallas

 

Dallas Morning News / June 07, 2003 / Scott Farwell

 

          Imagine you're standing in a stream. Look one way -- upstream -- and cool water slides over mossy rocks, delicate wildflowers carpet a grassland prairie, and nature, in its way, balances the shriveling and sprouting, the predators and prey.

          Downstream, things seem less idyllic. Water plunges and boils, carving deep and dangerous ravines, toppling trees.

          Many animals have died or moved on. Wildflowers have been replaced by Bermuda grass, the prairie paved over.

          Most days, ecologist Ken Steigman feels like he's standing in the middle of that stream, the native environment slipping through his fingers.

          "We're in a race between education and destruction," said Dr. Steigman, natural science director for the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas.

          "If we don't save some of these natural areas in Collin County, we might lose them forever."

          Many people -- developers, some city officials and many local residents -- say it won't be a great loss.

          Much of the area's natural landscape was ruined in the mid-1800s, after the slaughter of bison and thinning of gray wolves opened huge swaths of land to agriculture.

          Ecologists say long-grass prairies are the most rare ecosystem in North America, and Collin County's White Rock variety is the rarest of the rare.

          The area's natural world has been stretched out of shape and may snap if the mammoth forces of commercial and residential development continue to shape the region's growth, environmentalists say.

          The county population is expected to more than double by 2030. But Bob Morris, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas, said transforming a derelict cotton field into a new neighborhood isn't an act of evil.

          "People can come up with all kinds of wonderful ideas about how to preserve land," he said. "But people need places to live. And when you look at other major metropolitan areas around the country, this region has done a reasonably good job of bringing affordable housing into the market."

          In time, he said, the naked plots of land with broomstick trees -- like the ones environmentalists bemoan -- mature into lasting, vibrant neighborhoods.                    

         "Time tends to heal and enhance," Morris said. "Those little spindly trees grew up, and those neighborhoods became the epitome of what people want in a community."

          Dr. Steigman says sprawl is inevitable, but it doesn't have to be intractable.

          "We need to be thinking about what we build and how we build it and where we build it," he said. "There is no question things will be built, but we need to consider how this growth degrades our quality of life, and what the natural environment can provide us."

          For example, he said, development should never be allowed in a floodplain, even if it is built up and compacted. Home builders should not scrape land flat or remove native vegetation and animal habitat.

         Natural areas should be purchased and protected by local governments.

         The city of Frisco, Texas, located in Collin County, instituted the first green building program in the country, which requires builders to meet federal energy efficiency standards, saving homeowners money and cutting pollution.

         The City Council passed laws protecting trees and streams, and encouraging the use of native landscaping. Three years ago, the city retooled its master plan to encourage developers to incorporate open space into neighborhoods.

         Collin County communities don't have to look far to figure out how to grow in a green way, according to Bobby Hernandez, a community planner for the Environmental Protection Agency's Dallas office.

         Flower Mound, in nearby Denton County, has it figured out, he said.

         "They've taken a long view of this," said Hernandez. "It started as a movement in the community, in response to growth, and they came up with a vision."

         So in Flower Mound, which was the second fastest-growing city in Texas in 1999 (behind Frisco), each proposed project must go through a complete environmental review -- instead of the less stringent environmental assessment -- and city ordinances not only protect watersheds and wildlife habitat, but outlaw development that would obscure "scenic vistas."

        City codes that curdle the humor of some developers are used as sweeteners for builders who are willing to preserve open space and protect the environment.

        Environmentalists say it is difficult for many Texans, who romanticize the state's wide-open spaces and independent spirit, to see land as a diminishing resource in need of regulation.

        "Texas may be the last state to come around on these issues," said John Hadidian, urban wildlife director of the Humane Society of the United States.

         "We can learn from the mistakes of the past. We know sprawl is a mistake and that unchecked growth degrades the natural and human environment."

         Colleen Campbell, 65, says urbanizing areas such as Collin County can have it both ways -- a healthy environment and a robust economy -- if growth is approached in a sensitive and reasonable way.

         She keeps seven stray dogs plus a herd of goats, while maintaining a vegetable garden.