Living Landscape:
The extraordinary rise of the East Bay Regional Park District and how it preserved 100,000 acres

The new book Living Landscape chronicles the extraordinary rise of the East Bay Regional Park District. Author and historian Laura McCreery traces the East Bay Regional Park District’s 75-year history, from its beginnings in the depths of the Great Depression when voters approved a tax hike to acquire “surplus” watershed lands to its establishment as the first regional park special district in the U.S. The agency’s unwavering focus and sophisticated methods have allowed it to preserve 100,000 acres of public parklands in 65 parks throughout San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay as it has become the largest regional park agency in the United States.

The book explores the politically charged annexation of new territory in 1964, board members whose controversial tactics nearly brought the agency to its knees, the clashes of “pure” open-space advocates with those favoring increased public access to parks, and many more pivotal moments. Set against the coming of age of the environmental movement, the book reveals how these extraordinary events unfolded, through the eyes and words of people behind the scenes. Living Landscape informs and surprises readers interested in the environment, California history, politics, law, or simply a good story.

Narrated in captivating text with visually stunning full-color and black-and-white photographs, Living Landscape tells the story of the first Park District of its kind, the campaign for ecoconservation and livability, and describes the people, places, and innovation that have made the East Bay Regional Park District such a model for park agencies in the U.S. and around the world.

This book is available at a discount price at all of our visitor centers (http://www.ebparks.org/parks/vc ) with the exception of Del Valle, Garin, and Regional Parks Botanic Garden.
More Information http://www.livinglandscape.net/

About the Author, Laura McCreery

The extraordinary rise of the East Bay Regional Park District and how it
preserved 100,000 acres
Laura McCreery is a writer and interviewer specializing in California politics and government. Her news, feature,
travel, and opinion articles have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the East Bay Monthly, and the in-flight
magazine Reno Air Approach, where she was a contributing writer, as well as in such journals as California Legal
History, Oregon Historical Quarterly, and California Historian. Her articles and oral histories are represented in
many library collections, including the New York Public Library, the California State Library, UC Berkeley, UCLA,
and the University of Washington.
A longtime oral history researcher, she currently directs the California Supreme Court Oral History Project at UC
Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies. She has also, since 1996, served as oral history project director,
interviewer, and consultant for such clients as the Berkeley Historical Society, the Contra Costa County Historical
Society, the East Bay Regional Park District, the Novato History Museum, Prytanean Alumnae, Inc., Reed College,
and the Society of California Archivists.
In her spare time, McCreery often runs, hikes, cycles, and swims in the East Bay Regional Parks. The
author’s website can be found at: www.livinglandscape.net

Laura McCreery
For author interviews please contact:
Monica Storss
Publicity Director, Wilderness Press
510-558-1666 x103
publicity@wildernesspress.com
Author of Living Landscape