Minnesota Stories:

Cindy Gentz: The Great Recession or the Great Respite?

Regular contributor Cindy Gentz discusses how economic hard times give an opportunity to increase awareness of ways to limit harmful development impact when the rebound begins.

We all hear daily speculations about the state of the economy. Some pundits believe we are on the cusp of seeing a turn around in the housing market while others are very skeptical of any success in the near future.  People talk about the jobs lost, the homes lost, the disillusionment nation-wide.  A few young people put a positive spin on things by saying that houses are finally affordable again for those who have just graduated college.  However, I have heard no one on the radio or TV talk about the other big positive of the Great Recession: the Great Respite it has given the environment.

I’m sure someone will eventually crunch the numbers of how many acres of wetlands, prairies and forests were left untouched for a few more years due to lack of financing for development.  I will be very interested to see them.  We are using less energy for manufacturing, building, and mining while factories operate at diminished capacity and shoppers shun the new and shiny and make do with the old and patched.

Of course, once the economy picks up and people start building again, this respite will be over, but until then, there is a great opportunity for conservationists to get ahead, instead of always playing catch-up.  This economic time-out also gives local, state, and federal governments a chance to educate developers and contractors on new regulations, laws and ordinances that may have been put in place recently.  Developers educated in rules put in place to protect the environment are more likely to comply with said rules, resulting in a better relationship between enforcers and developers and, of course, a less-degraded environment.

Minnesota has recently put in place new rules governing septic systems (sadly still a threat to water quality even in 2010) and have been trying since 2008 to get new rules governing shoreland property in place.  Unfortunately, a lack of funding (the pesky Great Recession again) has slowed the process considerably and Minnesota lakes are still awaiting the extra protection these new rules would afford them.  As I have stated earlier, however, it is not enough to merely have these laws in place.  The people who they affect must understand them and the consequences for not complying.  Government needs to use this time to educate the public about its rules.

However, this is mostly a situation of hope.   While I wait for my retirement account to start growing again and the right atmosphere to ask for a raise, I look for newly affordable real estate and urge my local government to adopt Low Impact Development (LID) standards before the lands surrounding Grand Marais are further subdivided and begin being built upon again.  As local government staff, I can help to find funds and experts to put on workshops and develop LID protocols.  But I am certainly not the only one who can move things forward.

A quick email to a city official or county commissioner can be the starting point for environmental protection in your community.  A suggestion of holding workshops on new regulations and how to install and maintain pervious pavers and rain gardens is a simple way to get started, if full-blown LID regulations are too daunting.  Low Impact Development and regulation compliance can give us cleaner waters and more local wildlife, without stymieing economic development during a time where so many people in the construction industry are out of work.  Decision makers can put people to work on regulation-compliant LID “shovel-ready” projects as well as traditional ones with a little encouragement.  If we do our job well, LID and a well-informed developer community will be the new norm when the Great Recession and the Great Respite are over.


Cindy Gentz is a recent college grad grateful to have a job. Especially one in Grand Marais, where she works for the local Soil and Water Conservation District advocating for water resources. She spends her free time exploring the wonders of the North Shore by canoeing, ice fishing, and hiking.

Reader Comments (2) | Post a Comment

January 21, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Amy Pierce:
This is the first truly positive spin I have seen on our current recession - Refreshing! Are we too afraid of offending those affected by the recession? Oh wait, that's all of us! Not stopping to think is what got us into this mess. We cannot be too blind to the fact that the previous "expansion" of our economy included a "contraction" of our cherished green spaces. I agree with Cindy - let's take this opportunity to get ahead. Otherwise, our great-great-grandkids are going to have to live on Pandora:)


January 21, 2010 at 9:53 AM
Bill Hakala:
Great article. Maybe a few more wetlands will still be wetlands and not  Targets and Home Depots.