Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS)

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Resource Pointer #229
January 26, 2000

For copies of the following resources, please contact the appropriate publishers or organizations directly.

*California Farmland and Urban Pressures: Statewide and Regional Perspectives, 1999* Albert G. Medvitz, Alvin D. Sokolow and Cathy Lemp, eds. Papers on farmland conversion and protection on the urban edge in California. Includes demographic and land conversion trends, farm-city edge conflicts, state land use policies and the work of private land trusts. Plus case studies from two Bay Area counties, the Central Valley, the northern Sacramento Valley and Ventura. 207 pp. US$20. Contact Agricultural Issues Center, Davis, CA 95616; phone (530) 752-2320; email agissues@ucdavis.edu; Web site http://aic.ucdavis.edu.

*Farewell, Promised Land: Waking from the California Dream, 1999* Robert Dawson and Gray Brechin. Photographic documentation and text contrasting the devastation of the Golden State with its mass media image. Traces the destruction of California’s natural and cultural resources, and briefly describes efforts by environmental and community groups to fight back. 233 pp. US$35. Contact University of California Press, 2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA; phone in U.S. (800) 777-4726, phone from outside U.S. (609) 883-1759; Web site http://www.ucpress.edu.

*Transforming California: A Political History of Land Use and Development, 1999* Stephanie Pincetl. Describes how transformation of nature for economic development has driven California’s recent history and shaped the evolution of its political institutions, including the cozy relationships between business and government. 372 pp. US$45. Contact Johns Hopkins University Press, P.O. Box 50370, Baltimore, MD 21211; phone (800) 537-5487; Web site http://www.jhu.edu.

*Under the Blade: The Conversion of Agricultural Landscapes, 1999* Richard H. Olson and Thomas A. Lyson, eds. Provides guidance for those interested in protecting farmland from urban development. Defines the problem of farmland loss in the U.S. and discusses legal, economic, social and aesthetic aspects of farmland protection. Includes 21 U.S. case studies. 459 pp. US$35. Contact Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301-2877; phone (800) 386-5656; Web site http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com.

*USDA 1997 National Resources Inventory, 1999* Documents trends in land use, soil erosion and other resource issues on non-federal lands in the United States. Reveals that the rate of land conversion for development more than doubled during the period 1992-1997 compared with the previous decade (1982-1992). Tracks decline in prime farmland acreage. Free. Contact U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Room 0054-S, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013; email Doug.Wilson@usda.gov; Web site http://www.nrcs.usda.gov.

We encourage those interested in having resources listed in the PANUPS Resource Pointer to send review copies of publications, videos or other resources to our office.