It is refreshing to have our Scenic Conservation Action Plan complete and available.  We encourage each of our member municipalities to endorse this plan.  During this endorsement process we reflect on the beginning of the process seven years ago with the Americas Byways Resource Center and Scenic America.  The two organizations partnered with the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition and N Y State Department of Transportation to host a workshop in Schenectady in June 2007.

During that workshop seven basic principals of Scenic Conservation were outlined:

1. Retain the distinctive character of our communities and countryside by rebuilding older cities, towns and suburbs as beautiful places in which to live and work; and conserve agricultural land and open space.
2. Foster new development that respects the special character of places as defined by their distinctive geographical features, cultures, climate and natural systems.
3. Encourage a balance of regulatory and market approaches to protect scenic resources including rewarding land stewardship by property owners, local governments and corporations; and providing disincentives for practices that destroy scenic values.
4. Design a national transportation system that respects aesthetic values as well as economic and energy efficiency, social equity, and environmental qualities.
5. Prevent mass marketing and outdoor advertising from intruding on the landscape or community appearance.
6. Teach young people to value the visual environment and to create and respect places of beauty.
7. Actively engage business, industry, civic and professional organizations in the movement for a more scenic America.

For more details and examples click here or refer to your copy of Conserving Our Treasured Places: Managing Visual Quality on Scenic Byways.