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San Jose Mercury News By Shawn Neidorf Lois Crozier-Hogle is a 40-year veteran of the Bay Area's environmental movement. She's been observing Earth Day since the very first
celebration in 1970, when she attended a special walk and tried to rally others to the conservation cause. She is best known for co-founding the Committee for Green Foothills, an open-space advocacy group that
routinely battles with Stanford University and others who want to develop in the hills. This year, the 88-year-old Los Altos Hills resident plans to attend a number of Earth Day-related events, including a lecture
about water distribution, a Trail Day at Arastradero Preserve and a sunrise ceremony at Bayfront Park. A week of activities surrounds the 33rd annual Earth Day, today. What follows is an edited transcript of her
conversation with reporter Shawn Neidorf. Crozier-Hogle touched on environmentalism, her beloved foothills and the evolution of Earth Day. Q What kind of legacy are you looking to create? What kind of future
are you trying to lay out for this area? A I'd like for this area to be, well, really what it is. It's had some development, but so many people say what a relief it is to get to the Peninsula. They come
down here and there's open space and green trees. Q What do you think is the biggest accomplishment of the local environmental movement? A We have made people aware that the foothills can be saved, that open space
can be saved -- and it is being saved. Over 40,000 acres have been saved by the Midpeninsula (Regional) Open Space District. And I think that the growing awareness that it's important to save the environment is a
thing that we've accomplished. Q Let me ask you about the national environmental movement: What do you think is the biggest accomplishment there? A You know, they have been able, by their pressure and
education, to get some laws passed to enforce environmental issues. They have forced companies who have polluted to clean up their pollution, to pay for it. Q On the local front, what is the biggest issue yet to
be tackled in terms of the environment? A I think it's smart growth. The Greenbelt Alliance has gotten that term going, and it's helping people to see there is a way that we can grow that we can save our open
space. Q What kind of impact do you think the environmental and conservation movement has had on this country since the first Earth Day? Q I think they've had a tremendous impact. You never used to see the
environment mentioned anyplace, and now you see it nationally. Even the president and people with the Congress are all aware that there is an environmental movement now, that there are people who are interested in
saving the environment. And it's mentioned over and over again in the news. It's become accepted, really. Q How important is Earth Day now? A Oh, I think it's very important for it to continue drawing
people in, particularly young people. It has, I think, a wonderful influence. Q What's your greatest hope for the future of the environment? A I think we are in danger. The earth is in danger. Its wildlife,
its fish, its oceans, every aspect of it is in danger because of man's not caring in the first place and not being conscious, not being aware of what they need to do in taking responsibility for it at every level.
Water is a thing that is very important, I think perhaps the most important issue that has come along, and people are aware of it, but they're not nearly aware as they should be. They're not saving it, they're
wasting it, and particularly this is true for California, all of California. Q Is there anything else you want to say? A It sounds as though we've made progress, though still a great many people are not
interested in it (the environment), interested enough to get involved and do something. I don't mean become activists, but I mean just doing what they can each day. |
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