Natural Resource Management and the San Diego Waterfront with Don Wood

The Finest City

This week, we welcome Don Wood to share his story of falling in love with San Diego, one surf session at a time. Don discusses a few of his key takeaways from working with SDG&E, the Community Action Partnership, and C-3. He talks about the climate of natural resource management in San Diego in the 1980s, and a few of the battles still being fought today. Don shares a few of C-3’s biggest accomplishments that he is most proud of, and what we need to move forward with even more strength and purpose in the future.

Timestamps:

[3:14] Don talks about how he got to San Diego, his education, and most importantly, the great surfing that made him fall in love with San Diego. After working for the county, he got a job at SDG&E.

[8:47] C-3 was Don’s first engagement in policy and land use issues in San Diego. How did he make his way to C-3?

[9:02] When working for the Community Action Partnership, Don learned a lot about advocacy on behalf of low-income communities, economic development, and community.

[9:24] Don describes the concept of natural resource management, and what the climate was in San Diego around that issue in the 1980s. Why was there tension between natural resource management and development as it relates to the San Diego Bay?

[11:19] There is a constant war going on between the side that wants to preserve the environment and the development side.

[21:21] One topic of importance at C-3 is the concept of ecotourism. What exactly is the job to get “heads in beds,” and why does cultivating a healthy tourism market matter?

[30:28] Don shares what he thinks are a few of C-3’s biggest achievements, including Temporary Paradise and the creation of SANDAG.

[37:23] How was the public successfully convinced to support Proposition 70? What were some tactics used to advocate for The California Parks and Wildlife Preservation Act?

[41:41] Don discusses what he thinks the next generation of planners and activities will face in San Diego, and how C-3 can provide education and assistance.

[43:07] C-3 should be friends with the developers at BIA and friends with the Sierra Club and Environmental Health Coalition.

[43:41] An organization of organizations and a network of networks, that’s really what you’re really trying to get set up. But don’t let C-3 get lost in the mix, Don warns.

About C-3

In its 60 years of existence, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has brought together local thought leaders from planning, design, policy, academia, community development, and more to address our region’s distinctive and pressing land use challenges. In founding C-3 almost 60 years ago, architect Lloyd Ruocco’s vision was to bring together our region’s most creative minds from the arts, sciences, academia, and government to share ideas, learn new perspectives, and build fellowship around the idea of creating livable communities.

Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement:

C3sandiego.org

Phil Pryde

San Diego Sierra Club

San Diego River Improvement Project

National Environmental Policy Act

California Environmental Quality Act