This book is the first to tell the story of conservation by local government and private land trusts in California. It describes the remarkable extent to which communities have protected their landscapes and draws lessons for disseminating successful preservation strategies across the country. Using archival research, in-depth interviews with open space advocates in local government and private land trusts, and a telephone survey of over four thousand California residents, Daniel Press describes land preservation efforts pursued by California communities and explains why some have succeeded better than others. Saving Open Space concludes with policy recommendations based on lessons learned from the preservation success stories.
Saving Open Space The Politics of Local Preservation in California
About the Book
Reviews
"Press presents an empirically grounded examination of the ability and need for local actors and their communities to successfully acquire and protect land in California. The book is based on new research, and makes an excellent argument for why people around the country should care about what is happening in California. It is an important book on land protection and conservation for Californians interested in protecting land in their state; those studying land protection, state and local environmental policy making and capacity; and land protection professionals across the nation."—Chris McGrory Klyza, author of Wilderness Comes Home"Saving Open Space is an excellent resource for open space planners. In one short volume, Daniel Press has assembled an impressive amount of information about how open space is being preserved in California. This book will help place every open space battle and every land acquisition in a better statewide context."—William Fulton, author of The Reluctant Metropolis and co-author of The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl
"Everyone with an interest in development and conservation, in California and elsewhere in the nation, should read Saving Open Space. It meticulously demonstrates the growing political and institutional capacity of the local conservation movement, and the very substantial role that private land trusts are playing to preserve resources that are important to each individual community. Press also demonstrates that these local initiatives can make a substantial contribution to the larger ecosystems, resources and working landscapes so important to California."—Madelyn Glickfeld, California Resources Agency
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. A Statewide History of Local Preservation Efforts: From the Early 1900s to the Present
3. Physical, Fiscal, and Administrative Landscapes
4. Civic and Environmental Voluntarism in California
5. Policy Entrepreneurship
6. Policy Capacity across the Landscape
Appendixes
1. Land Held in Fee Simple by Local Government and Land Trusts
2. The Community and Conservation in California Survey Questionnaire
3. Parks Capacity Index
4. Statewide Environmental Ballot Measures, 1924–2000
5. Government Effectiveness Measures
6. Environmental Awareness Index
Notes
References
Index
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