Narrates the birth of Marin’s slow-growth ethic in the 1960s and 70s, and halting progress toward similar values along Sonoma’s Russian River in the 1990s. Generally resisting the urge to pontificate about nature, biodiversity, etc., the author details key land purchases, public policy studies, political tactics, and courtroom engagements leading to the modern Bolinas Lagoon, Tomales Bay, and elsewhere. In the case of the Russian River, miners with firmer ties to local supervisors (rather than land developers) make the byproducts of gravel mining a more intractable problem. An essential piece of local history.