Land Information Access Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit community service organization.

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Helping people shape better communities through participation, education, information and the effective use of technology.

LIAA Spotlight

LIAA Planner Covers Recreation in MAP's Smart Growth Tactics Publication

In the current issue of the Michigan Association of Planning's publication Michigan Planner features an extensive article about how intergovernmental cooperation impacts recreation planning, penned by one of LIAA's planners, Harry Burkholder, AICP. The article covers the enabling legislation for joint recreation planning in Michigan, discusses the process of cooperative planning and presents several case studies of successful recreation planning projects in Michigan. Check it out!

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LIAA's Board of Directors

Jack D. Bails

Jack Bails

Jack D. Bails is Vice President and Senior Consultant for Natural Resources at Public Sector Consultants. He provides strategic counsel and research services to private and public sector clients at the local, state, and national levels, to facilitate solutions to environmental issues and to assist in formulating public policy for the sustainable use and protection of natural resources. In addition, he manages the staff support for the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, which makes grants to government entities and nonprofit organizations for projects to mitigate fish losses at a large hydroelectric facility. He has been with the firm since 1992

Prior to joining PSC, Mr. Bails held various research, management, and policy positions during a 28-year tenure with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) that included eight years as a deputy director. Mr. Bails holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in environmental sciences from Michigan State University and currently serves on the board of directors of the Michigan Wildlife Foundation, and the Impression Five Science Center located in Lansing, Michigan.

Cathie Cunningham Ballard

Cathie Cunningham Ballard is Chief of the Michigan Coastal Management Program, Department of Environmental Quality. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Resource Development from Michigan State University where she also completed her Masters Studies. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Association of Planning and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alumni Board of Directors.

She was DEQ staff to the Governor's Land Use Leadership Council, and was the DEQ Representative on the Department of Natural Resources and Dept. of Agriculture's Purchase of Development Rights Review Committee (1995-2002). Ms. Ballard was the recipient of the 2003 "Outstanding State Official", Michigan Association of Regions.

Marlene J. Fluharty

Marlene J. Fluharty is the Executive Director of the Americana Foundation, a private foundation in Novi, Michigan. As well as administering the programs of the foundation, she provides technical assistance to organizations in program area expertise and organizational management. For the past thirty years she has developed and implemented training programs for not-for-profit organizations with a concentration in environmental, volunteer leader and activist organizations. She continues to serve as a facilitator for community organizing, a trainer for volunteer organizations and a consultant on land stewardship and growth management issues.

She has experience with watershed organizations; land conservancies; federal, state and local government units; historical preservation organizations and conservation associations. She currently serves as a Director of the Funders Network for Smart Growth in Miami, FL and the Land Information Access Association, is a member of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Advisory Council and is President of the Sierra Club Foundation in San Francisco. She is the author of two publications: "Managing Growth: New Directions Toward Integrated Land Use Planning", The Americana Foundation, 1993; and, Integrated Land Use Task Force Report, State of
Michigan, Department of Natural Resources, 1996.

Daniel T. Kildee

Daniel T. Kildee is the Treasurer of Genessee County and initiated an effort to use Michigan’s new tax foreclosure law as a tool for community development and neighborhood stabilization. He founded the Genesee Land Bank - Michigan’s first land bank - and serves as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Kildee is also President of the Genesee Institute, a research and training institute focusing on Smart Growth, urban land reform, and land banking.

In 2003 Governor Granholm and legislative leaders appointed Kildee to the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council, which made 160 recommendations to deal with urban sprawl and other land use issues. In 2005 Governor Granholm appointed Kildee as one of the initial directors of the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority, the nation’s first statewide Land Bank.

Barbara Nelson-Jameson

Barbara Nelson-Jameson is a graduate of the University of Michigan and works for the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program. This unique branch within the NPS provides guidance and assistance to a great many community groups who are engaged in open space preservation, greenways and parks planning, and trail ways. Barbara travels throughout the Midwest working with conservation and community groups. She and Lee live in Suttons Bay with their daughter, Emily, a second-grader.

Douglas Luciani

Douglas Luciani has been president of the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce since January of 2003. The Chamber comprises four entities, including the Chamber, the Chamber Foundation, the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation, and the Traverse City Area Industrial Fund. Prior to coming "home" to Michigan, Doug worked for more than 12 years for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Raised in Hancock in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Doug received a bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University and a Master's Degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Gerald A. Fisher

Gerald A. Fisher, J.D. is an Associate Professor for the Thomas M. Cooley Law School at Oakland University. Before joining Cooley, he was senior partner and manager of the Municipal Practice Group at Secrest Wardle, a firm with offices in Farmington Hills, Mt. Clemens, Lansing and Grand Rapids. He has served as general counsel for the City of Novi and has served many property owners regarding land use matters. Professor Fisher is a well-regarded author and speaker on land use issues and has appeared in a number of Michigan Supreme Court cases involving zoning, condemnation, billboard regulation and lake regulation. He has also received the Robert P. Hutchens Award from the State Bar of Michigan.

Richard K. Norton

Richard K. Norton, Ph.D., J.D. is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning for the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Focusing on urban and regional planning, Professor Norton serves as the faculty coordinator for the land use and environmental planning concentration. His research has focused on sustainable development, environmental planning and planning law. Professor Norton received both his Ph.D. and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Virginia B. Pierce

Virginia B. Pierce is an officer and co-owner of EcoLogic, a natural resource management and land use planning company. She is a wildlife biologist with over 20 years of experience as a resource specialist and manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). After retiring from the DNR, Ms. Pierce helped form and head the Michigan Resource Stewards, an organization of retired DNR employees who advocate for the state's natural resources. Ms. Pierce is a graduate of Michigan State University and lives with her husband Don in Millersburg, Michigan.

This page last updated on 7/20/2007.

Land Information Access Association
324 Munson Ave.
Traverse City, MI 49686
(p) 231.929.3696 | (f) 231.929.3771 | (e) info@liaa.org