The American public jointly owns nearly

a million square miles of land that Congress has set aside for a variety of purposes, all for the benefit of the nation and its people. These lands are professionally managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. They provide all of us with myriad opportunities for outdoor recreation, protect the watersheds that produce our clean drinking water, preserve our cultural and historical resources, and provide habitat for wildlife. Each of the national land systems is managed under its own set of purposes, principles, and guidelines, including citizen participation in management decisions.

# America's National Lands

## THE NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM

The National Wilderness Preservation System is comprised of pristine, roadless areas within our National Land System that have been set aside by Congress according to the Wilderness Act of 1964. The National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management must all manage the wilderness areas within their boundaries to permanently protect their wild character. Although more than 100 million acres have been designated as wilderness to date, this is less than 4 percent of our nation's land base.

## NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

**Management agency:** National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior

**Types of units:** national parks and reserves, monuments, recreation areas, national scenic trails, seashores, lakeshores, wild and scenic rivers, battlefields, historic sites, and designated wilderness areas

**Purposes:** preservation of America's finest natural, historical, cultural, and wilderness resources for the enjoyment of present and future generations

## NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM

**Management agency:** U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Department of the Interior

**Types of units:** national wildlife refuges, designated wilderness areas

**Purposes:** conservation, management, and restoration of fish, wildlife, and waterfowl habitat; wilderness preservation; recreation and education

## NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM

**Management agency:** U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Department of Agriculture

**Types of units:** national forests and grasslands, designated wilderness areas, research and experimental areas

**Purposes:** outdoor recreation, range timber, watersheds, wildlife and fish habitat, and wilderness preservation

## NATIONAL RESOURCE LANDS (BLM)

**Management agency:** Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Department of the Interior

**Types of units:** Unlike the other three systems, most of these lands are confined to eleven western states and Alaska and are managed as resource areas. Some acreage has been designated as national conservation areas, national scenic areas, areas of critical environmental concern, and wilderness areas

**Purposes:** rangeland, outdoor recreation, mineral and timber production, natural, historical, and cultural-resource conservation, and wilderness preservation

3 LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND

LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND 4

The concept of Corporate Woods in Kansas City was to create office buildings nestled in a forest. Shown in the foreground of the photograph, this project was started in the early 1970s and contrasts with the other dispersed development in the College Boulevard-Overland Park suburban business district.

The inherent
strength of Coun-
try Club Plaza in
Kansas City lies in
its mix of retail, en-
tertainment, resi-
dential, and office
uses, all of which
are provided with-
in a compact and
aesthetically pleas-
ing pedestrian-
and transit-friendly
environment.

Source: Barton Smith, Vinson & Ellis et al., *Project Plan and Reinvestment Zone Financing Plan* (Houston: City of Houston, 1999).

## Lessons Learned

America's suburban business districts can learn two potent lessons from the example of Uptown Houston. The first is that a robust real estate market can be maintained only when it remains in tune with the needs and aspirations of its market demographics. Past performance is no guarantee of future success. The superblock plat of Uptown Houston was simply unable to cope with increasing congestion and was seriously undermining patrons' subliminal habits of repeat visitation. Market share was declining, retail vacancies were increasing, and real estate capital values and the tax base were under

This map of the Uptown Houston tax-increment reinvestment zone shows how the district's superblock plats have led to traffic congestion and limit the pedestrian's ability to walk from one development to another, undermining the attractiveness of the district.

99-100. Sunnyside Gardens, Long Island, New York, 1924-28
Plan of Blocks Built in 1926 (top); Photograph of the Court, 1949 (above)
Clarence Stein and Henry Wright

The block is designed as a whole and the street is seen as a service element (Figure 99, top). Within the block, private and semi-private spaces are created. Private gardens are proposed throughout; semi-private open space is provided in three clusters. This arrangement, one year after Corbusier's Voisin Plan for Paris, offers a compelling alternative to the conventional high-rise superblock perimeter building for the tall tower in the center of the block. The buildings are kept low to the ground so that families and children have access to the surface

for play. Enclosed communal spaces provide a measure of physical safety and emotional security (Figure 100, above).

Many of the opportunities of the city grid are understood in this scheme which respects traditional residential desires for light, air, play space, and the potential for personal interaction and association at all times during the life cycle. The scheme also provides requisite densities, building economies in repeated units and acceptance of the city's infrastructure which is necessary if housing is to be produced at all.

in older urban areas.

Stein and Wright, in spite of their exceptional and even influential work at Sunnyside Gardens, Radburn, New Jersey, Chatham Village in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere during the 1920's and 1930's, never achieved the national and certainly not the international prominence of their contemporary Le Corbusier. Their influence on urban planning and especially on planning for housing is now emerging. Much is to be learned from a careful analysis of their work.

ARTICLE

NO BUILDING SHALL RISE ABOVE EITHER (a) THE 30 FOOT, 50 FOOT AND 70 FOOT HEIGHT LIMITS FOR THE AREAS SPECIFIED ABOVE, OR (b) THE FLIGHT ANGLE SET FORTH ABOVE, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER.

SCALE: VERTICAL = 100 FT.
HORIZONTAL = 1/4 MILE

ILLUSTRATION OF SECTION 1510

## 1520. Height Regulations Around Minor Airports

1521. DESIGNATION OF APPROACH AREAS. For all airports not subject to the provisions of sections 1511-1514, the City Planning Commission may designate "Airport Approach Areas." In designating such "Airport Approach Areas," the Commission shall specify appropriate limitations on the height of buildings in such areas, in conformity with the applicable regulations of the Civil Aeronautics Administration relating to the construction and operation of such airports, and with due consideration for the types of airplanes using such airports and the resulting need to protect the public safety.

However, such "Airport Approach Areas" shall not be extended more than one-half (½) mile beyond the end of any runway; and the height limitations established in such "Airport Approach Areas" shall not prohibit the construction of any building or other structure less than thirty (30) feet above the filed grade, or (if no filed grade has been established) less than thirty (30) feet above the existing natural grade level.

1522. CONFORMITY WITH HEIGHT REGULATIONS. Subject to the provisions of section 1523 but notwithstanding any other section of this amended Resolution, the highest projection of any building or other structure shall not rise above the maximum height specified in the height limitations set forth for the "Airport Approach Area."

A map showing the approximate maximum height to which any building or other structure may be built within the area subject to the controls set forth above is on file with the Department of City Planning, Division of Mapping and Zoning.

1523. MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS. The Board of Standards and Appeals may modify the above requirements in accordance with the provisions of section 1651.52.

## 1530. Height Regulations Around Small Parks

Where zoning lots in an RA, an RB or an RM District or in Residence Retail Districts adjoin any public park with an area between one (1) and fifteen (15) acres except any tract of land used exclusively for playground or parkway purposes, the following regulations shall apply for all zoning lots along such public park.

1531. MEASUREMENT OF ANGLE OF LIGHT OBSTRUCTION. The angle of light obstruction shall in cases be measured from the center line of the street, or from the boundary of the public park, or from the boundary of the street line or boundary of the public park.

1532. NO AVERAGING OF ANGLE OF LIGHT OBSTRUCTION. The front angle of light obstruction permits for the district may not be averaged within one half-dred (100) feet from the street line or boundary of the public park.

Conventional street grid

A conversion of the site shows development of the site shows 1427 single family houses on about 205 acres. Houses are placed according to zoning lot requirements on a street system previously adopted by the City. The result is a disastrously barren environment, and all of the natural character of the site is destroyed.