UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- To help provide the tools and strategies needed by municipal officials, community-based conservation organizations and activist citizens, Penn State Cooperative Extension next month will offer a series of workshops on land-use planning. The programs will take place on June 6, June 13 and June 27 at the Cranberry Municipal Center, 2525 Rochester Road, Cranberry Township, Pa.

The workshops will look at the impacts of unbalanced growth and development patterns from a local and regional perspective and offer information and techniques that have the potential to mitigate the adverse effects on open space and natural resources. Program planner Mark Remcheck, an extension community forester based in Washington County, says the objective is to encourage and facilitate regional cooperation and planning.

Topics will include Allegheny Land Trust's "Greenprint," a regional conservation agenda for the public good; an overview of comprehensive planning, land-use regulation and natural-resource conservation as authorized by the state; the fiscal impacts of residential development; and "Natural Infrastructure," a nine-county coordinated GIS database of natural assets.

Registration is required by May 25. The registration fee is $20 for one workshop; $30 for two and $35 for all three. For more information, contact Penn State Cooperative Extension in Washington County at 724-228-6881.

###

EDITORS: Contact Mark Remchek at 724-228-6881 or by e-mail at mar15@psu.edu.

Chuck Gill 814-863-2713 cdg5@psu.edu