2012 is a year of anniversaries. As seen throughout this newsletter many governmental entities and organizations are celebrating significant anniversaries this year. The milestones include legislation championed by MCL, including the Coastal Act and the Marin Open Space District.

The celebrations will be scattered throughout the year, from the Golden Gate Bridge to Point Reyes National Seashore anniversaries.

It was the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, completed 75 years ago, that stimulated the creation of the Marin Conservation League—now celebrating our 78th year. The bridge was completed in 1937, but the founders of MCL were preparing for the inevitable changes the bridge would bring to Marin. So during this year MCL can celebrate the cause for the organization’s existence!

While celebrating past achievements the current financial and governmental landscape provides scant opportunities for new organizations. MOST, the Marin Open Space Trust, has had some success recently and may be the rare exception. We wish them continued success.

On the “watchdog” side of our activities we are analyzing the latest version of the Plan Bay Area for the Sustainable Communities Strategy mandated by SB375. This planning document is projecting anticipated job and housing growth in the nine Bay Area counties through 2040. Although the jobs and housing numbers are produced by state governmental agencies, their allocation to towns and cities around the Bay is left up to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). A number of alternatives for the allocation have been considered, and the final version will be adopted by a joint meeting of ABAG and MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) on May 17. In June the EIR process will begin, with a Draft EIR expected in November. It is apparent that a planning document that projects so far into the future will need careful scrutiny. If you are interested in participating in the discussion, please attend the MCL Land Use Committee meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at 9 a.m. at the MCL office.

Also, please join us for our next Business-Environment Breakfast on May 17, which will feature a talk by renowned marine expert Ed Ueber: “Polychaetes don’t vote! The politics of ocean protection.”

-Susan Stompe