In the November 25^th Sacramento Bee’s Forum Section was a call to conservation action written by David Yarnold, President and CEO of the National Audubon Society. He shared that the Audubon Society and its Republican partner, ConservAmerica, asked folks across the nation a critical question that was never posed to any Presidential candidate: “What should be the top conservation and environmental priorities for the next administration?” Democrats, Republicans and Independents responded with the following:

1.  Promote the development of clean, renewable energy sources to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and foreign sources.

2.  Protect air, water and land from pollution.

3.  Be cautious with the Keystone XL pipeline, offshore drilling and hydrofracking in environmentally sensitive areas.

4.  Protect national and state parks and open spaces.

5.  More environmental and conservation education.

I was very pleased to see 4 & 5 on the list.

California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced November 12th that Major General Anthony L. Jackson, USMC (Ret.) has been appointed director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. 

Major General Jackson, 63, of Fallbrook, recently retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 36 years of service. Prior to his retirement, Jackson served as the Commanding General, Marine Corps, Installations West. In this role, he was responsible for the command and control of Marine Corps installations in the Southwestern U.S., including oversight of administration, fiscal, military, construction and energy programs and the welfare of 13,000 employees and more than 60,000 Marines and sailors. Read more.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2011 American Housing Survey national and metropolitan data available online. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the AHS to obtain up-to-date housing statistics for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The AHS contains a wealth of information that can be used by professionals in nearly every field for planning, decision making, market research, or various kinds of program development. It gives data on apartments, single-family homes, mobile homes, vacant homes, family composition, income, housing and neighborhood quality, housing costs, equipment, fuels, size of housing unit, and recent movers.

Voters on November 6^th had the opportunity to approve over 350 local measures. This number of local measures is comparable to previous Presidential election years. We tracked measures in Marin County, San Francisco, Berkeley, Petaluma, Truckee-Donner, and others. If we missed yours, please send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .