History
n 1958, Dorothy Erskine, Jack Kent and colleagues founded Citizens for Regional Recreation and Parks (CRRP). CRRP was created to protect parks and recreational areas in the Bay Area. Two of the first campaigns CRRP focused on were establishing a regional government and saving San Francisco Bay from landfill and development. In 1969, CRRP was renamed People for Open Space to reflect the group's new commitment to preserving additional spaces such as ranch lands, agricultural lands, and wildlife preserves. POS continued the campaign for open space throughout the seventies, helping to establish the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District (1972) and Suisun Marsh (1974). POS established Greenbelt Congress in 1984 as a parallel group that fought for open space through grassroots organizing. After three years of parallel work, Greenbelt Congress and POS merged to become Greenbelt Greenbelt Alliance--establishing the organization's dual focus of grassroots activism and policy research.
Specialties
Greenbelt Alliance is the champion of the places that make the Bay Area special. We defend the Bay Area's natural and agricultural landscape from development - the hills that offer stunning views, the valleys and streams that provide clean water, the farms and ranches that give us fresh, local food. We help create great cities and neighborhoods - healthy places where people can walk and bike, communities with parks and shops, transportation options, and homes that are affordable. Together these amazing places drive the Bay Area's economic vitality and quality of life.