Scenic America Again Seeks Nominations for "Last Chance Landscapes"

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Scenic America Again Seeks Nominations for "Last Chance Landscapes"

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Scenic America, a national scenic conservation organization, is now accepting nominations for its 2001 Last Chance Landscapes program. These endangered landscapes are places of beauty or distinctive community character with both a pending threat and a potential solution. Nominations are due on June 1, 2001.

"Change is inevitable, but ugliness is not," said Scenic America's President Meg Maguire. "Unless we reverse course, many of the landscapes and communities we love will be buried in this decade under billboards, cell towers, huge roads, and strip malls."

A Last Chance Landscape can be a scenic vista, a distinct region, an urban neighborhood, or some other place people cherish and want to preserve. Scenic America will judge nominations on the scenic quality and/or distinct character of the area, the extent and urgency of the threat, and the opportunities to save the landscape.

"Often we look around our communities and countryside and ask 'How did this happen?'" said Maguire. "The challenge is to take action before it's too late to protect scenic landscapes, save open space, preserve community character, and ensure a better quality of life for future generations."

Last Chance Landscape nomination forms are available at Scenic America's website (www.scenic.org) or by calling Scenic America at (202) 543-6200, extension 12. There is no fee to submit a nomination.

Scenic America launched the Last Chance Landscapes program in 1999 to highlight the growing challenge of preserving natural beauty and distinctive community character. The 2000 Last Chance Landscapes report listed places ranging from the Verdugo Mountains in southern California to Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke Ranges in western Massachusetts. In 2000, for the first time, Scenic America named an entire state, Colorado, as a Last Chance Landscape.

Local individuals or groups nominated the areas, which included a scenic roadway, open space in metropolitan areas, historic towns, and other places treasured for their natural beauty or distinctive character.

"A word for any group interested in applying for Last Chance Landscape status: Do it! The process of applying will, of itself, help citizens coalesce around common goals. Those of us lucky enough to bear the designation have found that it helps citizens rally around efforts to protect the places in which we live and to recognize once again our responsibilities to pass our landscapes on to the next generations. - John Sinton, Trustee of the Connecticut River Watershed Council, nominator of Mt. Tom and Mt. Holyoke, MA Last Chance Landscape 2000

Scenic America is a national, nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC whose mission is to preserve and enhance the scenic character of America's communities and countryside. Since 1978, Scenic America has helped citizens and public officials in thousands of communities nationwide protect their scenic heritage. Scenic America advocates for federal, state, and local laws and policies that support scenic conservation and community livability.

The organization supports strong sign control, progressive transportation policy, responsible land-use planning, and other measures to preserve natural beauty and distinctive community character. Scenic America is dedicated to the principle that "change is inevitable; ugliness is not." For more information on Scenic America, including memberships and our other publications, please visit our website at www.scenic.org.

Mary Houser, Communications Director, [REDACTED-PHONE]

http://www.scenic.org

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