Lasting Value: Open Space Planning and Preservation Successes
Rick Pruetz feels that Americans are committing "country-cide."
About
More than one million acres of forests, farms, and other rural lands are converted to development every year. Can preservation happen? Yes, but it is no walk in the park. Lasting Value celebrates the selected cities, towns, and counties that excel at preserving natural areas, farmland, and other types of open space.
For 10 years, Rick Pruetz has explored communities that excel in saving their natural environments. In 24 illustrated vignettes, he captures the character of places. He offers more than an appreciation of these communities. He brings a planner's-eye view of the practices behind their achievements. His detailed reports of creative preservation solutions mark the trail for planners, commissioners, and citizens who seek to preserve the green legacy in their own backyards.
Meet the Author
Rick Pruetz, FAICP, is a planning consultant in open space preservation strategies. He received his master's of urban planning degree in 1979 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and served as the city planner of Burbank, California, for more than 14 years before starting a consulting practice in 1999. Pruetz has written four books and coauthored two others on open space preservation planning.
Author Chat
Have you read Lasting Value? Or do you have a question about land preservation for Rick Pruetz? E-mail authorchat@planning.org to submit your question. Questions will be accepted through May 25. Rick will answer submitted questions via a video that will be posted the week of May 28. Please include your first name, city and state in your e-mail address.
| Communities Profiled | |
| Alameda County, California | Maricopa County, Arizona |
| Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, New Mexico | Marin County, California |
| Berks County, Pennsylvania | Minneapolis and the Twin Cities Region, Minnesota |
| Boulder and Boulder County, Colorado | Montgomery County, Maryland |
| Burlington County, New Jersey | Palm Beach County, Florida |
| Chester County, Pennsylvania | Pima County, Arizona |
| Collier County, Florida | Santa Clara County, California |
| Contra Costa County, California | Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz County, California |
| Dane County, Wisconsin | Santa Fe County, New Mexico |
| King County, Washington | Sonoma County, California |
| Lancaster County, Pennsylvania | Suffolk County, New York |
| Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky | Travis County and Austin, Texas |
Community Slide Show
In Lasting Value, Rick Pruetz profiles 24 communities that he identifies as preservation success stories. The book features full-color images of each profiled community.
Get a quick preview of some of the communities Pruetz has visited and profiled.
Visit Rick Pruetz' website for more information on preservation.
In the News
Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties celebrated for open land preservation
The Argus
February 15, 2012
Yeah, we nurture nature
Curbed Seattle
February 2, 2012
Advance Praise
"Pruetz convincingly shows that successful planning is about planning for land preservation as well as development. The case studies of local government and private-sector land preservation are full of valuable lessons for planners who are looking to promote long-term sustainability in their communities. I look forward to using Lasting Value in my course on land preservation."
—Tom Daniels, professor, University of Pennsylvania
"This book is a treasure, full of facts, carefully researched, and very readable. A must-read for anyone interested in learning how communities across the country have succeeded in institutionalizing the conservation ethic in their plans and ordinances."
—Randall Arendt, author, Rural By Design