Private Developments Providing Conservation Benefits at Multiple Scales

• Author: Rebecca L. Kihslinger/James M. Mcelfish Jr.
• Pages: 55-56

55

Explanation of Chapters Four to Six

Private Developments Providing

Conservation Benef‌its at Multiple Scales

The f‌irst set of case studies focus on private land developments that incorpo-

rate habitat conservation at the site level in ways that also support regional habitat

needs. The three developments show how habitat conservation at multiple

scales can be accomplished in sites of various sizes (640 to 20,000 acres) and

types (New Urbanist to industrial to a luxury conservation development).

Chapter Four

Coffee Creek Center, Chesterton, Indiana:

Mixed Use New Urbanist Conservation Development (640 acres)

Coffee Creek Center is located on 640 acres in Chesterton, Indiana—50 miles

southeast of Chicago, and directly south of the Indiana Dunes National

Lakeshore in Porter County. The centerpiece of the ecologically minded, New

Urbanist-style development is the 151-acre Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve

(the Preserve)—managed by the Coffee Creek Watershed Conservancy

(CCWC). The Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve not only serves central open

space and stormwater management functions for the development but also as

a riparian and wetland habitat for native wildlife. The CCWC, realizing that

the environmental conditions affecting the Preserve cross property boundaries,

quickly expanded its mission to include the protection, restoration, and enhance-

ment of the entire Coffee Creek Watershed and developed the Coffee Creek

Watershed Management Plan.

Chapter Five

General Motors, Lansing Delta Township, Michigan:

Corporate Lands Wildlife Habitat (1,100 acres)

The 1,100-acre General Motors Lansing Delta Township (LDT) site, a Lead-

ership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-rated assembly plant