Stephanie Pincetl is an American academic specializing in the intersection of urban policy and the environment, particularly in California. She is the Director of the UCLA Center for Sustainable Urban Systems in Los Angeles. (wikipedia)
Southern California is the endangered species hot spot in the continental United States. We are continuing to add population. It sets up a collision course between the Endangered Species Act and land use.
The boundaries of the plan were actually developed by a scientific team without any kind of political pressure. Some of the very best scientists who know the Southern California desert ecosystems were involved.
The Coachella (Valley) plan is considered to be one of the very best plans scientifically for habitat - bar none - in the United States.
Initially, the Endangered Species Act created a preservation pattern that was oriented species by species. It made for a complex but not very efficient system.
