The Dane County E-Way in Madison, Wisconsin was created by visionary Philip H. Lewis, Jr., a professor of landscape architecture and Director of the Environmental Awareness Center at the University Wisconsin.  Lewis believes that the “key to protecting and enhancing urban patterns is to minimize environmental degradation”.  He continues to stress that communities should recognize and utilize cultural and natural features within the urban fabric in order to enhance people’s sense of place and quality of life.  Lewis implemented this planning philosophy and created the 21 mile Dane County E-Way.  It became a community-wide system linking Madison’s natural and cultural nodes like stringing jewels on a necklace.  Input from the public provided a list of features/nodes that the community identified as important characteristics of Dane County.  From this list key points of connection were identified, such as lakes, museums, parks, a pedestrian mall, arboretum, the University of Wisconsin and the zoo.  All of these jewels on the E-Way provide environmental and ecological awareness, outdoor laboratories for education, exercise and not to mention enterprise for tourism.  In dollars, the E-Way’s jewels are valued at close to a billion dollars.  However, the benefits to the community are priceless.  Even after 30 years, the community still supports the growth of the E-Way.  Philip Lewis’ vision for the E-Way is a model for sustainable development and environmental protection designed to be in the backyard of both citizens and politicians.  With foresight, the vital qualities of a city can be preserved, organized and connected by such a system.