is 0.3 percent greater than the previously
reported acreage.
Prime Agricultural Lands: A major recommen-
dation of the adopted regional land use plan is
the preservation in essentially agricultural use
of most of the remaining prime agricultural
lands in the Region. The initial plan set forth a
generalized delineation of prime agricultural
lands along with a recommendation that the
actual areas to be protected through exclusive
agricultural zoning be locally determined. Con-
sidered in the original identification of prime
agricultural lands were soil productivity, the size
of the individual farms, the size and extent of
the combined area being farmed, and other
factors. It should be noted that only large blocks
of farmland, concentrated areas of at least five
square miles, were included in the original
delineation. The Commission recognized that in
local refinements of the original delineation, it
may be desirable to modify the criteria used to
identify which agricultural lands ought to be
preserved.
After the adoption of the regional land use plan,
farmland preservation planning programs were
undertaken in Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine, Wal-
worth, Washington, and Waukesha Counties, the
six counties in the Region with a significant
agricultural land base. Those plans resulted in
a refinement of the agricultural land preserva-
tion recommendations of the regional land use
plan, including refinement of the criteria used to
identify prime farming areas. The most signifi-
cant change in those criteria pertains to the size
of the farming areas to be included. In identify-
ing prime agricultural lands, the counties
included blocks of agricultural land considerably
smaller than those initially identified under the
regional land use plan, areas as small as 100
acres. As might be expected, the total prime
agricultural land area identified under the
county plans is significantly greater, by about
50 percent, than that included in the generalized
Commission delineation set forth in Planning
Report No. 25. The data pertaining to prime
agricultural lands in this planning report reflect
the refinements provided under the county
farmland preservation plans.
Environmental Corridors: Another major recom-
mendation of the regional land use plan is the
preservation in essentially natural, open use of
the primary environmental corridors in the
southeastern Wisconsin. As previously noted,

these corridors are linear areas in the landscape
containing concentrations of the most important
remaining elements of the natural resource base
as well as scenic, recreational, and historic
resource amenities. Like the delineation of prime
agricultural lands, the delineation of primary
environmental corridors as set forth in Planning
Reports Nos. 7 and 25 is a generalized delinea-
tion, the result of systems level planning. Subse-
quent to the adoption of the year 2000 regional
land use plan, the need for a more detailed
delineation of these corridors became increas-
ingly apparent. This need stemmed from from
increased involvement by the Commission in the
preparation of local plans and plan implementa-
tion devices; increased requests from both the
public and private sector for detailed natural
resource-related information; and changes in
state and federal policies regarding sanitary
sewer service extensions and wetland preserva-
tion. In response to this need, the Commission
embarked on an environmental corridor refine-
ment process which resulted in the detailed
delineation of environmental corridors through-
out the Region. This refinement process made full
use of detailed inventory data regarding wet-
lands and other elements of the natural resource
base not available at the time of preparation of
the original regional land use plan.
The refined environmental corridors, like the
generalized corridors originally identified under
the regional land use plan, lie along the major
stream valleys, around major lakes, and in the
Kettle Moraine area of southeastern Wisconsin.
The boundaries of the corridors have, however,
been adjusted to coincide more precisely with
natural resource features, based on the more
detailed inventory data now available. In com-
parison to the initial environmental corridor
configuration, the revised configuration includes
a higher percentage of wetlands, woodlands, and
surface water and a lower percentage of agricul-
tural land. The areal extent of the revised
corridor configuration is slightly lower, by 8
percent, than that of the original configuration
identified in 1963.
Analyses and Forecasts
Inventories provide factual information about
the present situation, but analyses and forecasts
are necessary to provide estimates of future
needs for land and resources. Analyses of the
information provided by the inventories are
required to provide an understanding of the

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