Calif. Sees Huge Drive to Save Coast

[Quetzal]

Calif. Sees Huge Drive to Save Coast

PESCADERO, Calif. - Mark and Dawn Kemp never thought such coastal quietude was possible on the Pacific shore, just 20 miles from the hustle of Silicon Valley.

"I can't believe that we aren't seeing hotels and commercial growth scooping all this up," said Mark Kemp, making just his second trip to the seaside.

The two tourists from Denver, marveling at miles of uncluttered oceanfront, didn't know about a small, powerful network of nonprofit land trusts, government agencies and foundations that have bought thousands of acres of California's coastline since 2000 to stop growth.

In a phenomenon some have dubbed "Big Green," groups including the Arlington, Va.-based Nature Conservancy, the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land and American Land Conservancy and numerous land trusts have translated 1970s idealism into hard-nosed business to compete with developers.

more...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=718&e=10&u=/ap/20040324/ap_on_re_us/oceanfront_land

[brainoverload]

1. Oregon

The entire Oregon coastline is public access beach and the vast majority of it is in a natural state.

That's one of the reasons the west coast states are filled with so many - take your pick - liberals/progressives. Or do I have that backwards?