In an era of increasing complexity, the majority of local land-use decisions in the United States are made by volunteer citizen planners. Often these elected or appointed volunteers enter their positions with a passion for their communities but without appropriate background training. The Michigan Citizen Planner Program was developed to address…

An estimated 13 million acres of New York State have been taken out of production agriculture since the early 1900s. While most of this land has remained idle and returned to its natural growth, that part that is being rapidly converted to urban uses is of immediate concern. These changes inevitably affect the quality of life in rural areas,…