by Marguerite Hanselman
Conservation Chair
Houston Sierra Club

It is difficult to highlight environmental problems in the Houston/Harris County area without seeing the big picture problem -- urban sprawl.

Without zoning, land use planning or any land use ethic, the problems of habitat degradation, air and water quality, flood control, traffic gridlock and endangered species are increasing yearly. Rather than capitalizing and promoting the valuable "eco-necklace" that surrounds Houston, we seem to ignore its potential. Instead, rampant development and its secondary growth are encouraged and financed by support and tax abatement.

Historically, Houston was based on land speculation but now it is time to sit back and consider the long-term effects of such an ethic.

Repeated studies show that rampant and unplanned development will cost us more in the long run than leaving some portions of the region protected.

The inner city of Houston is relatively sparse, with much open space. Federal proposed projects such as the Wallisville Dam, the Westside Airport, the Grand Parkway and Lake Jackson are touted as bringing money into the area, but at what cost?

Houston is built on a flood plain but we continue to pave over the area and the nearby wetlands only to exacerbate the flooding and prevent any natural absorption.

Much is said about the importance of "quality of life." Texas has just been moved to the top of the list for the Most Polluted State in America. Houston has the second-most polluted air in America. It has some of the most congested freeways. These are not titles that add to the quality of life of Houstonians.

Houston could boast of having the densest migratory waterfowl winter home in the world (Katy Prairie) or the best birdwatching and fishing in America (Columbia Bottomlands; Galveston Bay system); beautiful trails in the Sam Houston National Forest. But as long as we allow unplanned development all around our eco-necklace, these fragile titles will be gone.

With that disappearance will go the quality of life for future generations of Houstonians.