These hayfields and rolling hills in Alameda County are an example of lands that could be protected through the Bay Area Conservancy Program.

More than 150 public agencies and nonprofit organizations work to protect and support enjoyment of the open space lands in the nine Bay counties. In 1990, some of them decided to collaborate more closely and formed the Bay Area Open Space Council. They met, swapped stories, shared maps and other resources, debated common problems and solutions. All agreed that more money was needed. In time, they also recognized the need for a more effective structure for advancing projects and programs of regional significance.

A conservancy is what came to mind, something like the Tahoe Conservancy, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, the San Joaquin River Conservancy, or the Coastal Conservancy. The Coastal Conservancy already served the Bay Area, of course, but its jurisdiction was limited to the coastal zone, the bay shoreline and, in a loosely defined way, the corridors of streams that flow into the Bay. Someone suggested: instead of creating a new bureaucracy, why not ask the Legislature to give the Coastal Conservancy jurisdiction throughout the nine Bay counties, together with the responsibility to craft a comprehensive regional program?

Senator Byron Sher of Palo Alto agreed to sponsor a bill to establish the Bay Area Program within the Coastal Conservancy. Signed in November 1998, it is designed to tap the Coastal Conservancy's expertise in protecting natural and agricultural resources, working with diverse partners, and providing public access to the outdoors. Under the bill, close partnerships are to be established between the Conservancy and local agencies and organizations to prevent any gaps, duplications, or conflicts among state and local efforts.

Projects expected to benefit include the 400-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail, which is linking ridgetops around the bay. The Trail enjoys widespread public support, yet it is a monumental challenge to implement across numerous jurisdictions. The Conservancy's new program should help ease the way.

Habitat protection efforts are also expected to become more effective and efficient. The kit fox pays no heed to agency boundaries. Neither does the least tern, nor any of the other endangered, threatened, or sensitive species. The region now has one program within which the full range and diversity of species can be considered with the collaboration of 150 or more local agencies.

In crafting the legislation establishing the Bay Area Conservancy Program, Craig Britton, general manager of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, described it as a glass into which water (i.e., money) can be poured and then shared. Now it's time to get some water and start pouring and sharing.

John Woodbury is program director for the Bay Area Open Space Council.