Protecting Open Spaces & Special Places
The Mountain Area Preservation Foundation believes that those of us lucky enough to live here or visit are responsible for preserving our part of the Sierra Nevada for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations.
Protecting open space while also maintaining an urban connection to nature through the creation of pocket parks, public art and outdoor gathering places are ways to protect critical
natural resources while also cultivating environmental stewardship within the community.
We consider “open space” to mean natural areas both in and around a community that provide places of refuge, recreational opportunities, working lands,
wildlife habitat and protection for critically
sensitive areas such as wetlands or fawning grounds.
Here in Truckee examples of public open space include the Regional Park, Waddle Ranch and the soon to be restored Trout Creek Pocket Park in historic downtown.
The availability of open space brings a multitude of benefits to our community including readily accessible recreation opportunities, increased property values, support for the local tourist economy, noise abatement zones for our local airport, flood control, protection of our watershed, reduced air pollution and in general a high quality of life for those of us who live here.
"As individuals, we know what we seek when we take a walk through a pristine landscape, climb a mountain or find a place along the shore to be with friends. It may be a desire for solitude or intimacy, challenge or repair, transcendence or escape… The discovery that such "sacred" places have been lost through development, overuse or neglect may have significant effects on both individual and community…”
Nora J. Rubinstein, Ph.D.
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