Welcome

I taught an "Introduction to Environmental Law" class at De Anza, during Fall Quarter 2008, and I have also been deeply engaged with the students, faculty and staff of the Environmental Studies Department, to help develop an effective understanding within the Department on how best to change public policy to protect the natural environment, and how to make sure that actions by local, state, and federal government will help preserve and protect the Coyote Valley as an incredibly important wildlife habitat and wildlife corridor.

I live in Santa Cruz County, where I was an elected member of the Board of Supervisors for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. I am the author of Santa Cruz County's very successful growth management system, and am often asked to speak on land use and other environmental issues around the state.

You can get a flavor for the kind of approach I take to land use by tuning into the "Land Use Report," which is aired each weekday during NPR's "Morning Edition" on Santa Cruz County radio station KUSP. If you are interested in land use and environmental policy issues, I also recommend that you check out the website of LandWatch Monterey County. I was the first LandWatch Executive Director, and am very proud of the difference that LandWatch has made in Monterey County. There's room for the kind of community involvement that LandWatch sponsors right here in the Silicon Valley!

As of January 1, 2009, I have become "Of Counsel" to Wittwer & Parkin, LLP, a Santa Cruz law firm that practices public agency and environmental law. Previously, I served as the General Counsel of PCL, the Planning and Conservation League (which means that I was both their in-house attorney and an active lobbyist in the State Legislature). PCL is based in Sacramento, and is the state's oldest environmental lobbying group. It works on virtually every sort of environmental and environmental justice issue that faces the State of California. I am delighted that my background and current work  can help connect De Anza students with the world of politics and legislation.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions about how a course in environmental law might help you to find a good career (and even make some money), while you work to provide the kind of leadership we will need to save this planet!