Protecting our Resources--Density Matters, part 1.

As many regular readers of my blog post know, my spouse and I took a trip to northern Wisconsin in early October of 2021. While we enjoyed the fall colors, I also saw a color that I found very disconcerting, the green algae on the lake adjoining the cabin we rented for a few days.  I wrote about that color in post on October 13, titled "Unexpected Color", which you can see/read here. Many would think that the best response to assisting water quality would be to decrease density with even larger lots. However, I will present the case that the best solution to protecting our resources is to increase density. It may seem counter intuitive, but the logic behind it is sound.  Much of the following, which is broken into a two parts, originally appeared in the Partners in Forestry November 2021 Newsletter. As far as I know, no reader of that newsletter went off the deep end the thesis laid out here.

Lost Lake, between St Germain and Sayner

As the world continues to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, school, work and home may never be back to the life and routines of our pre-pandemic age. We are already seeing some employers allowing people to continue to work remotely from home or any other preferred location. With continued internet enhancements in the rural area of the state, remote working opens up a much larger location for living as one is not tied to a daily commute. The Northwoods, in large part due to its natural features, is one of Wisconsin’s premier vacation destinations, and therefore, is prime for a move to year around living. While this move has been occurring with retirees, the installation of broadband and remote working now make it possible for many others. The question is how will the Northwoods adjust to the population and concomitant building, not to mention an increased desire for lake front lots, by year-round and seasonal populations? I would suggest that proper planning is important to meet the coming challenges in a manner to balance the natural resources, but yet allow for population growth. To do so, there has to be a recognition that density matters. This will require a different way of thinking than most are used to.

Lost Lake, Piers hint at Lake Development

Protecting resources, yet allowing for suitable population growth and construction is always a challenge, but proper planning, recognizing land and water capacities, and planning informed by the community, and enlivened with community values, can assist to safeguard the natural resources while meeting demands of growth. Planning is a balancing of varied community values and concerns, and following a plan can also provide important fiscal benefits to communities. However, new ways of thinking will be required. This article will consider a method, by recognizing density, that could allow for development while also limiting development effects on the natural environment and amenities that create the Northwoods experience. The Northwoods experience is that unique culture derived from the flora and fauna, combined with the unique geography of the Northern Highlands which creates the environment that attracts so many.

Autumn in the Northwoods

Since its founding, and until recently, the United States population often thought of its land resources as inexhaustible. However, as we now know, our land resources, not to mention the carrying capacity of the land, are not limitless. Density can assist in protecting what is important--that Northwoods experience. It can limit forest fragmentation and can assist in protecting water quality.

Cottage on Lost Lake

 
Density is important, as it can help preserve that which is important to us. Often people desire that large parcel on the lake, or in the woods. Large-lot living is ingrained in the American population’s psyche. But, given the carrying capacity of the land, and our resources becoming more finite, density allows for protection of what is best enjoyed, while still accommodating development. Important to the Northwoods are the lakes, the rivers, the forests, its landforms, and the related flora and fauna. The experience of the Northwoods is first and foremost related to these important natural features--it gives the Northwoods experience its feel, its life.

Pier from Cottage

Many years ago, I led a workshop on housing for residents of the city in which I worked (it was one of over a hundred meetings for the creation of its Comprehensive Plan). From state and regional planning resources, we knew the population we needed to meet for the next ten years, and from there extrapolated to the number of housing units required for the increased population in this growing area of the state. During the workshop the many participants were broken into small groups and given maps of the current city and different colored overlays reflecting different density levels. Most attendees were from the standard single family subdivisions, and they laid out the maps recognizing their experience in subdivisions of 3 to 4 units per acre - they gravitated to that to which they were most familiar. When we calculated how much land would be needed to accommodate ten years of growth they realized that the rural--or pastoral--land features they all highly valued would be significantly reduced. They then adjusted their development densities, believing that 7 or 8 units per acre would be more suitable. By doing this, they cut land consumption by about half. These people realized the importance of this rural agricultural resource not only to themselves, but to the character of a city. After all, it was the first incorporated municipality in Wisconsin to adopt exclusive agricultural zoning. Forest land of the north is the farmland in the southern part of the state.

Algae on Lost Lake, Oct 5, 2021

 
I am not suggesting this level of density in the Northwoods, since local opinion, local development character, and community values are important. What I am suggesting is that a development that has, for example, one to four acre lots causes a destruction of what is valued (that Northwoods experience), leads to greater forest fragmentation, uses more resources, and is more costly to service than say a development that is twice its density, or more. In a compact, more dense development there are less streets and less utility lines, which lead to reduced maintenance costs and lower development costs on a per dwelling unit basis. As density increases there are more options for green infrastructure to manage runoff and other development effects.

Bike Trail west of Sayner, WI

A future post will further explore these issue of why density matters. Density often gets a bad rap, but a good deal of it comes down to planning, design and the proper management of both. Our resources are too important to not want to think differently than the way the nation has for so many decades.