Tittabawassee River Watch Editorial
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Richard Maltby, 01/17/08, Letter to Trwnews
January 17, 2008
TRW Current News
Subject: Tri-Counties Planning Program
In view of my letter published by the Midland Daily News (January 15, 2008), entitled "Practice environmental regionalism," I propose that the Saginaw Valley Tri-Counties conduct a comprehensive environmental management planning process for the Saginaw Valley Tri-Counties region. I described in the Midland Daily News the approach used by the Erie and Niagara Counties Regional Planning Board, New York, while addressing the international environmental needs of the Niagara River system, which involved a regional environmental framework. This approach has application to all the communities in the Saginaw Valley Tri-Counties region.
The "International Environmental Study," which included the "Niagara River Environmental Plan," emphasized the implications and impact of the Niagara River system on the larger regional framework in terms of tourist-oriented land use concentrations, transportation, environmental health, parks and conservation areas, governmental management and coordination practices, air and water pollution generators and vacant developable land adjacent to the Niagara River and Lakes Ontario and Erie.
The communities have a right to a clean and ecologically balanced environment, free from pollution, degradation and conflicting land and water uses. It is recommended that the environmental planning and management process suggested for the Tri-Counties region include four phases as follows:
Richard A. Maltby
Midland