Q & A
The Gatekeepers
Amy Meyer is one of a handful of citizens and politicians who devoted years to the creation of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a story told in her book, New Guardians for the Golden Gate.
Q. When most people think of the Golden Gate, they think of the bridge itself, but the park encompasses much more. Talk a bit about its scope.
A. The Golden Gate Bridge itself is an engineering marvel, but it’s owned and operated by the local transportation agencies. Many people recognize that the park includes the hills on both sides and the various military forts [constructed soon after the Gold Rush, and all deactivated in recent decades], including The Presidio. But the people of San Francisco take a much bigger view of the Golden Gate. The bridge is at the center, but the park stretches from the northern end of Marin County, down the San Francisco coastline, and continues half way into San Mateo County—it’s now 80,000 acres and 85 miles long.
Q. How did the process of land preservation begin?
A. San Francisco mayors started plotting open space shortly after the Gold Rush, and by 1870 they were already setting aside land on the coast. In 1906, the area we now call Muir Woods National Monument was being threatened with condemnation by a developer who wanted to dam Redwood Creek and provide a water supply for Sausalito— the canyon was too deep to make Redwood logging practical. But the owner, William Kent, who would eventually serve in Congress, donated the land to the federal government under the Antiquities Act, and insisted that Teddy Roosevelt name the land for John Muir, the great explorer of Yosemite and the West. That was the beginning of it all.
Q. What prompted your involvement?
A. In March, 1970, there was a plan to put a branch of the National Archives two blocks from my house; the building of a freeway had pushed the facility out of San Francisco. I first heard about it at a community meeting [and got involved immediately]. The building was to be located on a designated greenbelt, the old “parkland is cheap, let’s use it for real estate” idea. We protested loudly and applied political pressure, and in the end, the construction was moved to San Bruno. This was all done on a bipartisan basis. Our Republican Congressman Bill Mailliard and a fiery Democrat Phil Burton were both behind us; eventually President Nixon supported us as well. When you have two parties working together, you can really get something done.
Q. The book details plenty of lessons for conservation activists--talk about a few of them.
A. First off, the ability to see ahead is crucial, to think about protecting the land before it gets too expensive. You want to take action before [developers] wake up and recognize the financial value. The Peninsula Open Space Trust has always known this, just like The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, and NPCA. The second lesson is government can do good. The force behind the designation of Point Reyes was Congressman Clem Miller. Senator Barbara Boxer (D) and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D), now the Speaker of the House, were also major factors. Lastly, don’t ever give up. You haven’t lost until they’ve actually built something on the land, so up until that moment, don’t stop fighting.
Q. After all your work, what do these parks mean to the people of California today?
A. I can’t describe to you the amount of pride people take in these parks. I joke that back East if you have $10 million, you buy a very good painting and give it to one of the major art museums. Here, if you have $10 million, you buy a nice ranch and give it to a conservation organization--it’s just the way people think out here.
