|
||
|
News
|
|
|
Book review: Local governments and land trusts have protected more than 570,000 acres of
California open space since the 1920s. Given the relentless development forces arrayed against them, why have some communities been successful in protecting open space while others have
struggled? Why, for example, did Alameda and Contra Costa voters approve an increase in their property taxes at the height of the Great Depression to purchase expensive
ridge-top lands? These are not idle questions - especially when we may now be teetering on the edge of an extended recession. In These findings, while hardly surprising to Three factors contribute to a community's environmental policy
capacity: political resources (e.g. local revenues and administrative expertise), civic resources (voluntarism and political engagement), and external constraints (landscape features and development
pressure). Press tests this policy capacity model using a wide range of evidence. He interviewed dozens of local elected officials and activists, examined county voting records for 70 statewide
environmental measures, and even conducted telephone surveys with 4,100 California residents. Some of his findings aren't too surprising: that high levels of open
space protection are correlated with highly visible hillsides threatened with development (Marin, the East Bay, the Peninsula), rivers running through urban areas (Napa River, for example), and
community wealth (Los Angeles). (Believe it or not, Los Angeles has protected more land at the local level than any other county. Of course, much of it is in the Owens Valley, in another county.)
My favorite part of the book focuses on the role of civic engagement and voluntarism - what Press calls civic environmentalism - in enabling communities to preserve open space. Non-profit organizations like
If you want an inspiring story of local communities acting to protect the public good against overwhelming odds, check out Saving Open Space. Daniel Press reminds us of just how far
we've come, how we got here, and how far we have to go. Pete Holloran is a civic environmentalist working on his Ph.D. in environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz. Daniel
Press, a professor in that department, just happens to be his advisor. |
|
|
|
|||
|