Successful communities are the communities that essentially create a plan and stick to it. If you say no to bad development, you almost always will get better development in its place. The statewide book grew out of a similar volume the Conservation Fund developed for the Shenandoah Valley two years ago, which has had more than 6,000 copies distributed, and two printings. It has stirred interest in creating better growth, and McMahon has since given talks in every county in the valley at least once. Based on that success, the Virginia Environmental Endowment approached the Conservation Fund to create a similar book for the entire state.
Volumes are in the works for Maryland and Pennsylvania as well.
In the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement, the three Bay states agreed to reduce the annual rate of sprawl by 30 percent. According to recently released federal figures, that means limiting development in the watershed to 90,000 acres a year, from the annual development rate of 128,000 acres that took place between 1992 and 1997.