Lewis & Clark College's Environmental Framework Plan

A Voluntary Master Planning Strategy for Managing Our Natural Resources Base

Goal: Create a comprehensive, environmentally sustainable landscape plan for the Lewis and Clark campus that will guide the college and local public planning agencies in making good decisions about development and environmental conservation.

The City of Portland requires that all institutions create and maintain a long-range master plan. These plans describe development objectives of the institution and the impacts related to those objectives. Based on impact analyses, these plans also identify steps necessary to minimize negative effects on the neighborhood (noise, traffic, pollution, etc.) and the underlying infrastructure (streets, utilities, storm water systems and etc). However, these plans do not require specific environmental conservation elements as a linked component in the overall institutional master plan. Normally, specific environmental conservation plans and actions, are only required if development is proposed within or adjacent to environmentally sensitive areas.

The goal of this proposal is to integrate environmental planning more thoroughly into the institutional planning process. The underlying assumption is that the college will continue to work with local jurisdictions to implement rational and responsible environmental legislation (Goal 5, Healthy Portland Streams, etc), and that such legislation will result in development regulations that will affect our long range development activities. This proposal also requires that we look critically at our natural resources and set our own objectives for environmental sustainability on all parts of campus. Achieving environmental sustainability is a continual process of self-improvement, and we propose it can be done successfully within the legal framework, and further, that creating a unified environmental conservation master plan will be more effective than our current strategy.

To implement this proposal we will need to take a localized approach to environmental regulation, rather than the “one-size fits all” approach that generally prevails in the public planning arena. To do this will require that we do the following for our goals to protect our upland ecosystems, preserve our waterways and improve our landscaping techniques:

· Complete the assessment of campus environment and our environmental footprint,

· Identify environmental problems such as invasive species and sources of water pollution,

· Develop a plan to correct or mitigate problems, and incorporate it into our master plan,

· Implement the plan,

· Monitor our environmental problems and re-assess our environmental footprint.

Fundamental to this strategy, is the active and on-going involvement of academic programs in each of the above steps. Accurate scientific assessment, isolation of problem areas, identification of corrective or mitigating measures and monitoring will benefit from the proactive involvement of our academic leaders and student researchers. It will also create a unique opportunity for students to produce work that is both applicable and practical while using the campus as a laboratory for learning. The results of applied scientific research and social science investigations will help us develop and manage a comprehensive environmental overlay that is acceptable to regulatory authorities and works to help the college achieve its long-term development and environmental objectives.