Local Environmental Regulation in the Mountain West

Abstract

This book chapter will be part of a collection of essays about the last twenty-five years of development planning, which will be published by the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute. The chapter begins by considering the appeal of local environmental regulation to Mountain West local governments. The chapter then considers a broad array of local environmental regulations developed and flourished within the last twenty-five years. These include policies within the rubrics of living with and protecting the environment; recognizing and planning for nature's hazards; greening urbanism for climate change and sustainability; the interplay between the "old west" and the "new west" industries; and efforts at regionalism. The chapter concludes with a focus on what the next twenty-five years may bring for local environmental regulation in the Mountain West.