Forget golf: A growing number of high-end home communities are being built around large nature preserves. Others are converting golf courses or common land into native spaces – with the help of grants, private funds, and conservation groups.

That dormancy clause in the negotiations between the ACHOA and FOA has to be deleted for any hope to pass. It is our HOA land if the vote passes. We would OWN it. We should be able to do with it what WE want to do. Why would the lessee be the boss of property owned by the HOA? That is total hogwash. The ACHOA could create a 501(c)3 Urban Conservation Association or work with an existing Nevada conservation group to plan out the high desert nature area. It would not end up as expensive as the quote from the contractor that the FOA contacted. It is not impossible. Take a look at some of these conversions.

Photograph by Charles Lindsay

Wall Street Journal articles:

“Research has shown many people who buy homes on or near golf courses don’t even play the game, Mr. McMahon said; they just want to live near green space.”

Luxury Home Developers’ Latest Pitch: Unspoiled Nature (PDF)

A National Park in Your Backyard

Elizabethtown, Kentucky Passive Parks
Elizabethtown Nature Reserve and Greenbelt Walking Tours and Parks

Hamilton County, Indiana Conversion of HOA Open Space to Ridgefield Nature Park
Hamilton County Urban Conservation Association and Ridgefield Prairie Project: Four Years of Photos

Audobon 2015: Bye Bye Golf Courses, Hello Nature Preserves (PDF)

Lorain County Metro Parks converting golf course into a nature preserve (PDF)

In The Woodlands Creekside, Texas, new homes are currently priced from the $300’s to more than $4 million. There are 131 forested parks and 205 miles of hike and bike trails to bike, walk, run, or just take the dog for a leisurely stroll whenever the mood strikes.

In North Carolina, a mixing back of original 1907 natural native plantings and landscaping to lessen water usage took place at Pinehurst.
Farther Afield: Returning Pinehurst Golf Course To Nature (PDF)