Description
Book SynopsisThere are moments when we forget how fortunate we are to have the California coast. The state is home to 1,100 miles of uninterrupted coastline defined by long stretches of beach and jagged rocky cliffs. Coastal Sage chronicles the career and accomplishments of Peter Douglas, the longest-serving executive director of the California Coastal Commission. For nearly three decades, Douglas fought to keep the California coast public, prevent overdevelopment, and safeguard habitat. In doing so, Douglas emerged as a leading figure in the contemporary American environmental movement and influenced public conservation efforts across the country. He coauthored California's foundational laws pertaining to shoreline management and conservation: Proposition 20 and the California Coastal Act. Many of the political battles to save the coast from overdevelopment and secure public access are revealed for the first time in this study of the leader who was at once a visionary, warrior, and coastal sage.
Trade Review"A succinct, engaging analysis of the issues that define California coastal preservation." * Environmental History *
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Coastal Sage will be of great interest to scholars working on California environmental history and coastal history and, perhaps more importantly, to California environmental activists." * Western Historical Quarterly *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 • Few Safe Harbors: Peter M. Douglas’s Formative Years
2 • California’s Coast: Its Origins and Pre-Commission Development
3 • Sea Change: California’s Environmental Surge
4 • Coastal Conservation, Politics, and a New Commission
5 • High Tide: Th e Executive Director Years
6 • Ebb Tide: Th e Receding Years
7 • Footprints in Sand: Peter Douglas’s Legacy
Appendix A: A Selected Time Line: California Coastal Conservation and Peter Douglas
Appendix B: A Selected List of Peter Douglas’s Accomplishments and Honors
Notes
Bibliography
Index
