Douglas was an environmental powerhouse since the Commission began

by Brian Leubitz

Way back in 1972, the fledgling environmental movement was still looking for its footing.  California was still recovering from the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, but the big thing that really angered people was the construction of Sea Ranch, a private coastal community that planned to take several miles of coast away from public access.

It turns out that these facts really galvanized the movement, and soon the campaign to launch the Coastal Commission was off in earnest.  Douglas was at the heart of that:

Douglas began his crusade for coastal protection in the 1970s as a legislative aide and consultant, helping to draft Proposition 20, which voters passed in 1972, and the 1976 state Coastal Act, which created the Coastal Commission. After serving as the agency’s chief deputy, he was named its third executive director in 1985.

Since then, Douglas is credited with transforming the start-up panel into an influential land-use agency that has final say in nearly all development proposed along the coastline, from single-family homes, docks and beach stairways to the largest projects, such as subdivisions, marinas, highways and power plants. (LAT)

Of course, today the Coastal Commission vigorously defends the public right of access, but that result wasn’t always a sure thing.  And like every other public agency, budget woes threaten to cut away at their core mission.  However, Douglas leaves an impressive foundation on which to build.