| Southern California is extremely rich in biological diversity but also subject to intense urban development pressures. These factors can create conflicts between the interests of conservationists, government regulators, and developers, particularly in such rapidly urbanizing regions. In this research I examine the nature of the conflicts that arise between federal and state environmental policy mandates and local land use planning policy and development practices. My focus is the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the listing of the steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Malibu Creek Watershed in Southern California, a largely undeveloped region just west of Los Angeles. The Watershed has a number of endangered species, a very diverse and politically engaged community, and development pressure that threatens open space and natural habitats.; The social and political dynamics of land use issues are much more complex than the “conservation versus development” dichotomy that is so commonly portrayed in the literature—there are multiple points of view that shape the debate. Understanding that debate requires getting beneath the public surface and attempting to identify what these differing views are, from whence their power emanates, and ultimately how they influence decision-making. Thus the goal of my research is not simply to identify conflicts, but to uncover the social, economic and political interplay that allows those conflicts to continue, to be prevented, or to be remedied. The politics of these interactions are quite contested, and ideas about the appropriate extent of regulation and development restrictions vary considerably. Issues of trust, the role of private property rights, and the value of open space and habitat protection versus economic growth are huge issues to be reconciled.; Reconciling competing interests is a difficult challenge, and there may not be a solution that will satisfy all concerned. If the goals of the ESA are to be met, it will require both shifts in policy at the agency level and a shift in values by those wishing to protect habitats and those wishing to accommodate growth. The prospects for achieving such a paradigm shift, while problematic, are not without precedent. |
