American Farmland Trust,a nationalconservation group, has undertaken an intensive research program to understand the influence of public policy on the dualtrendsof dwindling farmland and increasing sprawl. Threecase studieshave been published:

• "An UnlevelPlaying Field:How Public PoliciesFavor Suburban Sprawl Over Downtown Developmentin Metropolitan Atlanta" examinesthe competition for economic developmentbetween thecity and itssuburbs.

• "Agriculture and the SuburbsofChicago" examines policies that influence the competition between agriculturea n d suburban developmentsurrounding metropolitan Chicago.

• "SmartGrowth VersusSprawl in California:How State and Local Public PoliciesPerpetuate Inefficient Development in the World's MostProductive Agricultural Valleys" found that myriad public policies -- fromproperty taxation to developmentfeesto zoning -- skewtheeconomicsof land development in favor of sprawl.

American Farmland Trust, 1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington,D.C., 20036.Tel. 202-331-7300, Web <www.farmland.org>.

The Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse is a national network that disseminates information on the best land use practices to citizens, grassroots groups, public officials, planners, architects, and business leaders. 1100 17th Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036. Tel. 202- 974-5133, Web <www.sprawlwatch.org>.

Redefining Progress,a nationalpublic policy organization, has published several penetrating studies on the influence of tax policy on environmental degradation and sprawl, including "The RoadsAren't Free: Estimating the FullSocial Costs of Driving and the Effectsof Accurate Pricing."One Kearny Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94108. Tel. 415-781-1191, Web <www.rprogress.org>.

The Preservation Instituteconducts research on the effects of technology on the environment. 2140 Shattuck Ave., Suite 2122, Berkeley, CA 94709. Tel. 510-848-7827, Web <www.preservenet.com>.

The Planning Commissioners Journalis a rich and diverse compendium of progressive city and regional planning resources. Champlain Planning Press, P.O. Box 4295, Burlington, VT 05406, Tel. 802-864-9083, Web <www.plannersweb.com>.

The Smart Growth Networkis a national alliance of land use policy groups based at the International City/County Management Association. 777 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 500, Washington, D.C., 20002-4201. Tel. 202-289-4262, Web <www.smartgrowth.org>.

At the request of U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) the U.S. General Accounting Officeis studying the effect of federal programs and policies on encouraging sprawl and disinvestment in cities. The first report is "GAO/RCED-99-87, Research on Urban Sprawl." It is available online at <www.gao.gov>.

More resource links are available through the Institute's Web site, <www.mlui.org>.