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Whose Vision? Conspiracy Theory and Land-Use Planning in Nevada County, California

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  • Patrick T Hurley

    (Environmental Studies Program, 10 Pacific Hall, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA)

  • Peter A Walker

    (Department of Geography, 107 Condon Hall, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA)

Abstract

In this paper we examine the role of claims of global conspiracy in undermining a local environmental planning process known as Natural Heritage 2020 (NH 2020) in Nevada County, California. County officials intended NH 2020 to mitigate the environmental impacts of rapid growth in this gentrifying rural community. This program illustrates the increasing use by land-use planners of landscape-scale approaches derived from conservation biology to protect biodiversity on private land. In Nevada County, this new planning vision met intense resistance. The ensuing struggle demonstrates the conflicts that can arise between social groups with competing visions for the future of the local environment in response to efforts to realize particular visions through land-use planning and policymaking. Opponents perceived a significant threat to their property rights from the use of a landscape-scale vision from conservation biology in county planning, which some depicted as part of a global environmental conspiracy. We explore the links between broader conservation science, ideology, and activism in the case of NH 2020, and suggest that quite real conceptual connections to global conservation politics potentially make local conservation planning efforts susceptible to claims of ‘outside’ interference. Although NH 2020 had no direct link (despite claims by some opponents) to global conservation efforts, the successful use of claims of global conspiracy in efforts to halt the program underscores social realities that planners and scholars need to consider when promoting what they often view as simply ‘good planning.’

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick T Hurley & Peter A Walker, 2004. "Whose Vision? Conspiracy Theory and Land-Use Planning in Nevada County, California," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(9), pages 1529-1547, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:36:y:2004:i:9:p:1529-1547
    DOI: 10.1068/a36186
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Robbins, 2002. "Obstacles to a First World Political Ecology? Looking near without Looking up," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(8), pages 1509-1513, August.
    2. James McCarthy, 2002. "First World Political Ecology: Lessons from the Wise Use Movement," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(7), pages 1281-1302, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Andrew Whittemore, 2013. "Finding Sustainability in Conservative Contexts: Topics for Conversation between American Conservative Élites, Planners and the Conservative Base," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(12), pages 2460-2477, September.
    3. Maureen G Reed, 2007. "Uneven Environmental Management: A Canadian Comparative Political Ecology," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(2), pages 320-338, February.
    4. Jean-David Gerber & Adena R Rissman, 2012. "Land-Conservation Strategies: The Dynamic Relationship between Acquisition and Land-Use Planning," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(8), pages 1836-1855, August.
    5. Karen Trapenberg Frick & David Weinzimmer & Paul Waddell, 2015. "The politics of sustainable development opposition: State legislative efforts to stop the United Nation’s Agenda 21 in the United States," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(2), pages 209-232, February.
    6. Robert H. W. Boyer & Nicole D. Peterson & Poonam Arora & Kevin Caldwell, 2016. "Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, September.

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