Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 27, 1995 TAG: 9503010012
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Where environmentalists see clear sky ahead, though, a thunderhead is rolling in. If millions start plugging rather than driving in to work, millions will be freed from the boundaries of cities and suburbs. Free to move to the wide-open spaces of rural America.
That, of course, is the hope of small towns and farm communities that dried up when the trains quit stopping or the jobs were mechanized, and children moved to the city to work. Good-paying jobs portable enough to be done hundreds of miles from the home office promise economic renewal.
But is rural America prepared for the consequences of a major migration into the countryside? James H. Snider, a political science fellow at Northwestern University, thinks not. In the March-April edition of The Futurist magazine, Snider warns of the massive destruction of America's remaining forests, open land and wildlife if this comes to pass.
And it seems to be happening. He cites a Wall Street Journal report that from 1990-92, rural counties gained nearly 900,000 residents.
Snider urges conservationists "to prevent information superhighways, just like interstate highways, from being built in environmentally important areas."
People already live in these areas, though, and shouldn't be denied all the educational, recreational and, yes, economic benefits promised by computer links to the wide world.
The trick is to maintain a balance, to keep from destroying the very resources that are such a powerful lure. Techniques for doing so include strengthened land-conservation incentives and laws, and more sophisticated land-use planning.
by CNB