AMES, Iowa – Twelve Iowa communities have been selected to participate in the Iowa's Living Roadways Community Visioning Program in 2008.

The award-winning program integrates technical landscape planning and design techniques with sustainable community action to assist community leaders and volunteers in making sound and meaningful decisions about the local landscape.

The 2008 visioning communities are Belle Plaine, Ely, Grand Junction, Harlan, Lake Park, Manson, Odebolt, Osceola, Sac City, Webster City, Winthrop and Woodbine.

The program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation in partnership with Iowa State University Landscape Architecture Extension and Trees Forever, an Iowa-based nonprofit environmental advocacy organization. In addition, professional landscape architects offer expertise in creating conceptual design plans for the communities.

To qualify for the visioning program, a community must have a population of fewer than 10,000, existing transportation-related issues and a committee of volunteers willing to dedicate their time and talent to the visioning process.

Since 1996, 137 Iowa communities have benefited from the visioning program.

Starting in 2008, communities that completed the community visioning program more than four years ago may re-apply for additional assistance. This opportunity, titled “Renewing Community Vision,” has application requirements similar to those of community visioning. One of the 2008 communities selected, Sac City, is repeating the program, having originally participated in 2001.

Additional information about the program is online at communityvisioning.org.

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