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What's all the buzz about? |
Stowe Mountain Resort has saved of 6,420,237 kW per year while in the program.
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75% of local farms in Williamston, NC have converted to no-till or strip-till farming with help from the North Carolina State Extension office.
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Sustainable Community Program Member Profiles |
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The City of Eufaula, AL |
The City of Eufaula, Alabama (population 15,000), is located two and half hours southwest of Atlanta, Georgia. In many respects, Eufaula looks a lot like other southern towns—its historic district is the centerpiece of downtown, while sprawl-type commercial zones, residential suburbs, agricultural fields, and industries spread outward.
Eufaula has the same environmental issues that face every other community in the United States. Its citizens generate waste, use energy, and build houses. They need good jobs and want young people to have opportunities to stay in Eufaula when they grow up. They want to live in a safe, clean, attractive, economically vibrant city.
Since 1997, Audubon International has been assisting city government officials, citizens, businesses, and civic organizations chart Eufaula’s future. Now known as Eufaula 2020, the initiative is the community’s way of envisioning and planning for its future, using Audubon International’s Principles for Sustainable Resource Management as a guide. Eufala is the first certified Audubon Sustainable Community, and it continues to work towards measurable goals set into motion in 1997. |
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The Town of Williamston, NC |
Williamston is a rural community in Eastern North Carolina. Primarily an agricultural community, it is a place where economic forces could have theoretically prevented sustainability from ever getting off the ground. The residents were worried about land use as it related to the diminishing water supply in the town’s aquifers. Yet, it has made great strides toward becoming a more sustainable community.
Williamston joined the Sustainable Communities Program in 2002, seeking assistance from Audubon International in revitalizing the local economy and protecting the natural environment and rural heritage of the region. Those two goals were a perfect fit with Audubon International’s emphasis on sustainability— the idea that environmental protection, economic vitality, and quality of life are intimately connected to one another and are the foundation of truly great communities.
The Town has earned certification. In early 2008, the town approved the Williamston 2020 Plan, which promotes sustainable practices in 15 areas with over 100 chosen indicators. Since the summer of 2010, The Town has been working with partners to diligently record progress in the plan. |
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The Town of Henrietta, NY |
Henrietta, New York (population 39,000), is a diverse community located in upstate New York’s Great Lakes region. The town lies just south of Rochester along the banks of the Genesee River and within a short drive of Lake Ontario’s shores. Henrietta is home to open space—primarily farms and forests—as well as the Tinker Nature Park, a strong source of pride among residents.
As a member of the Sustainable Communities Program since 2004, Henrietta has been working to merge its economic development with the protection and enhancement of the community’s environmental and social characteristics. Audubon International has served as a catalyst for citizen-driven planning and community actions and has facilitated partnerships with governmental agencies, businesses, academic institutions, and other organizations that provide local support and assistance to reach the goals envisioned in the community.
In early 2008, Henrietta became the first municipality in New York State to earn the Audubon Green Community Award, thus completing Stage 1. Henrietta will now work to develop a long–term plan with a big picture approach to community growth and environmental protection. |
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The County of Sarasota, FL |
In 2004, Sarasota County became the first county in the Nation and the fourth municipality to join the program. Audubon International has continued to work with Sarasota to help its communities expand and enhance their activities, implement Audubon’s approach to sustainability, and support Sarasota’s efforts with staff expertise and resources. Reciprocally, Audubon International is learning from Sarasota’s experiences of what has and hasn’t worked as we continually refine our process of fostering more sustainable communities.
Sarasota has a long track record of promoting sustainability principles. In 2002, the Board of County Commissioners for Sarasota County made sustainability the core of all county policy. Their resolution, No. 02-119, mandated that all “policies, guidelines, goals, and strategic plans promote sustainability.” That same resolution gave birth to Sustainable Sarasota, a division of county government staffed with University of Florida Extension employees charged with spearheading and coordinating the county’s growing sustainability efforts.
The county recently completed Stage 1, and has been aggressive in completing Stage 2. The Sustainability Coordinator has submitted the chosen indicators to measure success in the program, which will be reviewed by the government to provide feedback and approval
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The City of Coconut Creek, FL |
Coconut Creek, located in Broward County, Florida, is hailed as the Butterfly Capital of the World. The title is much more than a tourism ploy (the city passed an official resolution in 2002 designating itself with the title), or a nod to Butterfly World. The world’s largest butterfly aviary with more than 80 species and 5,000 individual butterflies is located in nearby Tradewinds Park. Coconut Creek backs up its claim with extensive natural and landscaped habitat that draws butterflies in droves.
However, the butterflies are just the tip of the iceberg for a community looking to make sustainability its cornerstone and defining attribute. Coconut Creek had earned many accolades, including Tree City USA designation and National Wildlife Federation Community Habitat certification. But in 2006, city officials were looking to take their environmental commitment further and integrate sustainability into the city’s planning and policies more comprehensively. The Sustainable Communities Program became the vehicle for doing just that.
The City has completed Stage 1, earning the Audubon green community award. Coconut Creek is planning a greenways project to build naturalized trail corridors throughout the community, linking residential and retail areas, and promoting alternative transportation. Planners have set forth ambitious plans for a project appropriately called Main Street, designed to build a focused downtown for the community, with sustainability principles at its core. In early 2006, the City passed affordable housing legislation, working to ensure that families and the local workforce can live in the community. The City is currently finalizing the sustainability plan and hopes to become certified in the near future. |
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Stowe Mountain Resort, VT |
In 2006, Stowe Mountain became the first member of the Sustainable Communities Program’s Private Sector Track. Spruce Peak Realty (the company in charge of the project) is working to make the resort a centerpiece of sustainability for New England, Vermont, and the mountain resort industry. One goal of the company is to ensure that Stowe Mountain Resort fits with the majestic, yet pastoral, landscape of Stowe, Vermont.
Stowe Mountain Resort has completed the lodge (a high-end hotel), fractional and whole ownership condominiums, mountain cabin sites, a pedestrian village with retail shops and restaurants, an Audubon Signature golf course, a multi-purpose community center, and a 2,000-acre wildlife conservation area important as habitat for black bear and moose. The project’s full 235 acres (which does not include the wildlife conservation area) will be rooted in Audubon International’s sustainability principles.
Stowe Mountain Resort is already off to a running start, completing Stage 1 in 2007, and became certified in 2010. Spruce Peak Realty operates an employee incentive and recognition program that rewards environmental stewardship. Mountain cabins and other buildings are built with input from Efficiency Vermont, a state-based organization that helps developers like Spruce Peak Realty meet the standards of the federal government’s Energy Star Home guidelines. Expanded alternative transportation options and incentives for carpooling and the use of hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles will help address transportation concerns. |
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