Montgomery County redefined the way it will grow in the next two decades when lawmakers endorsed a plan Tuesday that encourages development where residents can easily live a car-free lifestyle.

The County Council, after weeks of intense debate over the county’s growth policy, unanimously agreed to give developers discounts to build dense developments near transit stations as long as they also construct bike paths and walkways, put shops and other amenities nearby, and use environmentally friendly construction methods.

I don’t do a lot of local area reporting, but this front page (!) Washington Post story, “Montgomery draws a car-free blueprint for growth,” seemed newsworthy.  The picture above is of the Rockville Pike corridor, and anyone who has driven around Rockville knows it is as car-centric as anywhere in America.

The county is working to change that:

Most suburban growth plans — including Montgomery’s, until Tuesday — discourage development in congested areas, including those near public transit, and encourage construction in more sparsely populated communities, on the theory that new developments should arise where traffic is still tolerable.

But Montgomery’s new plan takes a different tack, one that smart-growth advocates say is long overdue. With the population nearing 1 million, the Washington suburb is substantially larger than the big city to its south but is still managing growth as if everyone can hop in a car and quickly get where they want to go.

The county’s growth policy is revisited every two years. The new plan could boost efforts to redevelop the jumbled White Flint area along Rockville Pike and provide new impetus to build a “science city” spearheaded by Johns Hopkins University west of Interstate 270 near Gaithersburg….

The council also endorsed a plan from County Council member Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda), whose district is likely to be the epicenter of much of the urban-style growth, to use development fees to improve a transit system that commuters say is increasingly inadequate….

Planners predict that 200,000 people are likely to move to the county in the next 20 years, bumping the population to more than 1 million. To find a way to house the expected newcomers and get them to and from work, the Planning Board had recommended that developers get discounts and rewards if they are willing to idle their properties for a few years and to build denser development and taller buildings, up to 300 feet in some areas, near the county’s Metro stations.

The Planning Board has also tried to make improving transit an ironclad condition of much new development.

When the board approved the proposed science city in July, members were adamant that it could not be built unless the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway bus or rail system is funded and built. Funding transit, however, is up to federal, state and local lawmakers, all of whom are struggling with massive budget shortfalls, so the Planning Board can advocate for but not create it.

As the price of oil returns to and then exceeds its previous records, funding for bus or rail systems will become a bigger and bigger priority state and federal level, so it is important for local planners to start designing for that.

And while I’m not certain the phrase “car-free” is a fully accurate description of what Montgomery County is pursuing, they deserve kudos for this smart growth plan.

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Beltway observers of all stripes owe Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) a debt of gratitude. In 2006, after 20 years in the House of Representatives, he ran for Maryland's newly vacant Senate seat against then-Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Steele's defeat put him on a trajectory to become chair of the Republican National Committee, where he has provided the political world with an unending stream of malapropisms and unintentional hilarities.

Meanwhile, Cardin -- who boasts close to a perfect 100 score from the League of Conservation Voters -- has become a key player on green issues in the Senate. He was kind enough to answer a few of our questions (transcript at bottom of post):

Sen. Cardin doesn't mention it specifically, but he is one of the original sponsors of CLEAN-TEA (the Clean Low-Emissions Affordable New Transportation Equity Act), which would set aside 10% of the revenue from any cap-and-trade program for green transportation projects. The provision was dropped from the House bill; it needs five more sponsors on the Environment and Public Works Committee to get voted through to the Senate floor. Neither Obama nor Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood have come out in support of the provision yet, but they oughtta.

Enviros will be heartened to hear that Cardin is on board with preserving the EPA's Clean Air Act authority over greenhouse gases. Rumor has it Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and other Dems on the Environment and Public Works Committee are pushing to include this in the climate bill.

Finally, Cardin doesn't mention this specifically either, but he is an original sponsor of S. 696, the Appalachia Restoration Act, which would define the word "fill" to prevent mountaintop-removal mining operations from dumping waste and rubble in mountain streams. He was one of the earliest members of Congress to speak out clearly against the barbaric practice of MTR; progress on the issue seems to be picking up steam.

Big thanks to Sen. Cardin for taking the time to answer our questions. With any luck, this won't be the last time.

Here's the transcript:

Introduction: I'm glad to be here today to answer questions from Grist, a great website covering environmental news.

Q: Are there any alternative ways of boosting public transit in the climate bill?

A: The climate bill gives us an excellent opportunity to increase public transportation. It's critically important to reduce greenhouse gases, to use less oil and fuel, and to provide better services to the people of our community, make their lives a lot easier. Now, we're very pleased about the House passing the climate change bill. It's an important bill; it establishes the framework to bring down greenhouse gases. But I must tell you, I think we could do much better on public transportation. And I'm looking forward, in the Senate, to providing more dedicated revenue sources to increase our commitment to improve public transportation in our nation. I think we can really get the job done that will help our communities as far as life is concerned, traffic is concerned, also, save us oil and energy and bring down greenhouse gases.

Q: Is there a push in Congress to preserve the EPA's new-source-review authority?

A: It's a very high priority that we preserve the new authority of EPA to regulate, especially under the Clean Air Act. We want to make sure that those authorities remain. Now, we are concerned about the House bill. The House bill is an important bill, and it moves us forward on global climate change, but we don't think we should take away from EPA's ability to use authority within the Clean Air Act, to make the type of progress necessary to bring down greenhouse gases. Bottom line is, we want it to be a partnership between what Congress will give this administration, the policies that we establish, working with the EPA to make the type of changes necessary to affect climate change in this country.

Q: What's the status of the Appalachian Restoration Act? Is there any appetite in the Senate for addressing mountaintop removal?

A: Mountaintop removal for coal is just devastating. There is no justification for mountaintop mining. The coal industry is important, but getting coal by that technique destroys our rivers. It destroys our environment. It's not fair to the people of that community. Their rivers are being destroyed, and it's just a horrible process. I'm pleased that we have bipartisan support to move legislation. Now, the EPA has already taken some steps. They're carefully reviewing each permit. I give the EPA a great deal of credit for taking that extra time, but they need the authority from Congress that prohibits this type of mining in our country. I do think there is support for it, and I'm hopeful that this Congress will move forward to an act of meaningful help for the EPA, in keeping our rivers clean and helping the environment.

Conclusion: I really want to thank Grist for giving me this opportunity to answer some of your environmental questions. I hope that we can continue this dialogue. Please feel free to go to my website, which is cardin.senate.gov, where we can help you with more information. This is an important subject. It deserves great debate. We appreciate you being part of it.

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I'm not sure what's more shocking: the news that the Maryland State Police wrongfully spied on me for months as a "suspected terrorist," or that, despite surveillance of me, officers apparently wouldn't recognize me if I walked into their police headquarters tomorrow.

I'm a former Peace Corps volunteer, an Eagle Scout, church member, youth baseball coach, and dedicated father. I also happen to be director of one of the largest environmental groups in Maryland, a nonprofit that promotes windmills and solar panels in the fight against global warming. So imagine my shock to get a police letter last month saying I was one of 53 Maryland activists on a terrorist watch list that has been discontinued because -- can you believe it? -- there's "no evidence whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime."

Matters turned especially Soviet-esque on Oct. 14 when I called the police requesting a full copy of my surveillance file. A spokeswoman told me I could visually inspect the file, but I couldn't make photocopies, I couldn't bring an attorney, and the police would be destroying the entire file after I read it.

And bring a valid photo ID, she said, to make sure you're who you say you are.

A what? Really? You spied on me, for God's sake.

The mess all began last summer when astonishing evidence surfaced revealing that the Maryland State Police -- under former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich -- posed as activists and infiltrated an anti-death-penalty group, attending the organization's meetings and taking secret notes to send back to HQ. But what were they doing to me and my organization -- the Chesapeake Climate Action Network -- during this surveillance program in 2005 and 2006? Bugging our phones? Reading our emails? Monitoring me as I walked my kid to the bus stop?

I still don't know for sure. Yielding to public pressure, the police finally gave me a printed copy of my "file" on Oct. 29. It raised more questions than it answered. Seven of the 12 pages were withheld without full explanation. And of the pages I did receive, at least half the words were redacted -- blacked out with a marker.

There was a photo of me on the last page, lifted from my website. And on the first page, there were these words: "Crime: Terrorism, environmental extremists."

What terrorism would that be? My file -- what little of it I have -- makes reference to a morning speech given in Bethesda, Md., by then-governor Robert Ehrlich on Nov. 17, 2005. A small audience of invited guests and journalists attended inside a classroom at Walt Whitman High School. Ehrlich wasn't doing enough to fight global warming, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network believed, and several of my staff arrived to peacefully demonstrate and hold up signs that said things like, "It's Getting Hot in Here, Gov!" But troopers with the governor's "Executive Protection Division" believed this was extreme, according to my file. For example, CCAN staffers invited high school students to hold up protest signs during the governor's speech. Pretty extreme, huh?

There was no civil disobedience at this event. No one was arrested. No county, state, or federal laws were breached. The entire affair was utterly peaceful, above board, and appropriate. Political demonstrations exactly like this happen a thousand times a day in America. There were no media reports of anything unusual.

Yet Ehrlich's security team considered this "aggressive protesting." Afterward, the troopers contacted the Maryland State Police's Homeland Security and Investigation Bureau. The result was creation of intelligence files on me and three of my staff under the crime category of "terrorism, environmental extremists." The real motivation, however, appears to be political spying. We were opponents of the governor's policies. We were organized and vocal about it. We wound up on an intelligence list along with dozens of other innocent, nonviolent opponents of the governor's policies.

Ironically, I wasn't even present at the protest in question. I've never been to Walt Whitman High School. But a case file was launched on me nonetheless, on Nov. 28, 2005, with my name, photo, job title, "no SMTs" (scars, marks, or tattoos), and the declaration that no charges had been brought against me. Strangely, according to the police papers, there's no record of any intelligence-gathering related to me after the file was created, just a narrative describing my staff's protest at the Ehrlich speech.

Meanwhile, the state police say they've released everything to me that's relevant to me, but I don't believe them. Since July, the state police have made numerous public statements related to this spying controversy that have proved to be factually untrue. They initially said, for example, that the entire surveillance program was limited to anti-death-penalty activists. But we now know activists for peace, immigration, and the environment were spied on too. I believe more of the spying story is yet to come out, however. With the help of a heroic Maryland attorney, David Rocah of the American Civil Liberties Union, and an equally heroic Maryland state senator, Jamie Raskin of Takoma Park, I believe all the facts will soon surface and we'll see legislation in the state General Assembly in 2009 specifically banning police abuses like this.

The final tragedy here, of course, is how much this whole episode has been a distraction to the public. The real threat of terror to Maryland and the nation is the prospect of up to 23 feet of sea-level rise as the Greenland ice sheet continues to implode from rapid global warming. The violent activity behind this threat is our astonishing over-reliance on fossil fuels, especially coal, to power our economy while suicidally saturating the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. For all our declarations of "never again," the ground-zero site of the World Trade Center will itself be literally under water from sea-level rise if we don't switch quickly to 100-mile-per-gallon cars and clean electricity from wind power.

But you can't have strong and lasting environmental protections without a strong democracy. Most of the transformative, positive change experienced in American history has happened only after significant citizen engagement at a noisy grassroots level. That's why, ultimately, the objective of almost all environmental groups -- from the more liberal Greenpeace to the more conservative Nature Conservancy -- is inspiring average citizens to care enough to take action, to make their desires known, to get involved in the system.

But who's going to get involved and get noisy -- in Maryland or elsewhere -- if citizens fear that the police are secretly attending the same rallies and meetings, secretly watching and taking notes and keeping lists? Thank God that outraged Marylanders from Ocean City to Cumberland continue to demand full disclosure and reform in the face of this tawdry police spying affair.

The national economy is tanking, we're bogged down in two wars, and the accelerating impacts of global warming could soon get so severe that Pentagon planners already anticipate security challenges worldwide from the inevitable social unrest spawned by biblical droughts, floods, wildfires, and the rest. History shows that it is precisely during times of war and want that governments tend to overreach and trample liberties. And it's only in resisting these temptations that certain kinds of governments -- democracies -- grow stronger.

With a climate disaster looming, I've worked very hard for many years to promote clean, renewable energy. But perhaps the greatest contribution I'll ever make to this cause is the action I'm taking right now: standing up and working hard to keep government itself clean.

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State and federal officials have spent $58 million since 1994 trying to make Chesapeake Bay a welcoming place for oysters -- and it all seems to have been for naught. There are less bivalves in the bay now than there were in the mid-'90s, and the Maryland and Virginia oyster industries have declined in turn. Officials say they're up against numerous factors, including disease that wipes out oysters by the millions and oyster-choking dirt that washes from lawns and fields. But critics say some modes of attempted recovery have been ineffective; for example, healthy oysters are often uprooted and moved to be easily accessible by oyster-catchers, and are thus more likely to be slurped off the half-shell than to reproduce. As for next steps, suggestions vary wildly: from rassling up more funding, to importing a different oyster species, to allowing even greater catches of wild oysters, to exclusively relying on oyster farms.

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Reports say Chesapeake Bay is still hurting

Two new reports show that, despite 22 years of clean-up efforts, the Chesapeake Bay is still in miserable shape. Pollution and population growth are on the rise, sullying the bay and its tributaries. A report issued by the Chesapeake Bay Program -- a partnership between the U.S. EPA and watershed states -- found degraded water and damage to grasses, crabs, clams, and worms. The University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science also released a river-by-river report card that gave the overall area a grade of D+. Ouch. "The bay is not responding as robustly and fully as we'd hope," says Jeff Lape, director of the Chesapeake Bay Program. As a few positives surfaced, such as sewage-plant upgrades and vehicle emissions laws, you could almost hear the sound of advocates summoning their strength. "I hope [the report card] doesn't give the wrong impression that we're simply not making progress," said Jeff Corbin of Virginia's Natural Resources department. "We're doing this for the long haul."

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Natural-gas projects denied in California, let pass in Maryland

If liquefied natural gas is the beleaguered suitor, California is the popular girl who keeps turning down earnest proposals. Yet another LNG terminal, this one off the coast of Ventura County, is off to the bar to drown its sorrows after a state commission voted Monday to reject its environmental impact report. The project, proposed by energy giant BHP Billiton, was effectively killed by commissioners who raised concerns about emissions and cost-effectiveness. The decision was applauded by greens, LNG-hatin' celebs, and some 900 citizens who showed up to the hearing. "This is the biggest decision on California's energy future in decades," says Mark Massara of the Sierra Club. Meanwhile, Maryland lawmakers ended their legislative session without voting to block an unpopular LNG project that's headed for federal review. Opponents are "frustrated and outraged that something this important didn't even receive the consideration of a full vote," says one legislator, who would not, obviously, have passed gas.

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While the Mark Foley mess has everyone's attention riveted on the fast-changing congressional landscape, enviros should also keep an eye on gubernatorial races this November.

"The state level is where all the truly positive environmental action has been happening in recent years," says Tony Massaro, senior vice president for political affairs with the D.C.-based League of Conservation Voters. This year, for the first time, LCV is channeling money to state conservation voter leagues to help them campaign for green gubernatorial candidates. "Governors occupy the executive branch, which means they can push for positive environmental change whether they've got a favorable legislature or not," Massaro says.

The Sierra Club is also putting national funds toward governors' races for the first time this year. "We decided that since the best policies are being made at the state level, that's where we should be doing our politics as well," says Sierra Club's national political director, Cathy Duvall. In a few states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, the group is putting more resources into gubernatorial campaigns than congressional ones.

Examples of ambitious state-level environmental initiatives are legion: Twenty-two states have implemented a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) mandating that a certain percentage of electricity come from clean sources such as solar and wind. Ten states have followed California's lead in adopting clean-car legislation requiring new automobiles to have lower greenhouse-gas emissions starting in the 2009 model year. Seven states in the Northeast have joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative committing to carbon dioxide reductions of 10 percent by 2019. And California has, of course, outdone all the rest by becoming the first state in the nation to impose mandatory caps on greenhouse-gas emissions.

Companies loath to deal with a patchwork of differing state greenhouse-gas rules are increasingly calling for federal-level solutions that would give them more clarity and certainty. "Essentially, leadership at the state level is, via industry, calling Washington to action," says Duvall. That makes governors with bold green vision all the more important.

Muckraker brings you a roundup of the most environmentally significant gubernatorial races in two parts: This week we'll focus on key states along the Eastern seaboard -- New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida -- and next week we'll cover states in the heartland and the West.

Eliot Spitzer.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer has never been shy about where he stands on environmental protection -- or anything else. "George Bush is, hands down, the worst president on environmental and energy issues that this country has ever seen," the pugnacious Spitzer spouted during the first big environmental speech of his campaign. As New York's attorney general, he's sued the Bush administration numerous times over environmental issues, including greenhouse-gas emissions, mercury pollution from power plants, pesticide use in public housing, and efficiency standards for appliances.

Spitzer has taken plenty of polluters to court, too. Among his many victories, he forced six New York power plants to radically cut emissions that cause acid rain and smog, achieving reductions equivalent to removing 2.5 million cars from the road. He was also the first AG to sue operators of coal-fired power plants in other states, arguing that their pollution blows into New York and contaminates the air breathed by his constituents.

John Faso.

Enviros are gleeful over Spitzer's 46-point lead in the polls against Republican candidate John Faso, former minority leader of the state Assembly. They see Spitzer as one of the strongest environmental champions politics has produced in decades. One hundred and one leading environmental activists and green-leaning celebs have joined together to endorse Spitzer, from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Bill McKibben to Chevy Chase and Pete Seeger. "Combating global warming, cleaning up the Hudson River, and closing Indian Point [nuclear plant] are all issues that I know he will effectively address," Kennedy said in a statement. "If anyone can solve these issues, it's Eliot Spitzer."

According to a recent New York Times poll, 64 percent of voters back Spitzer, while only 18 percent would vote for Faso.

Kerry Healey.

Enviros have a good chance of gaining a gubernatorial ally in Massachusetts, as well. Outgoing Gov. Mitt Romney (R) -- who yanked his support from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative at the last minute -- decided not to run for a second term, in part to clear the way for a potential presidential run in 2008 and in part because of low approval ratings in his left-leaning state. He handed the GOP ticket to his lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey, whose environmental platform scarcely differs from Romney's.

On the Democratic side -- and substantially ahead in the polls -- is Deval Patrick, a former assistant attorney general for civil rights under President Clinton who later headed up the equality and fairness task force at Texaco, then served as executive vice president and general counsel at Coca-Cola, where he encouraged sustainability efforts.

Deval Patrick.

"Patrick not only has an exciting environmental platform, he has the courage to implement it," says Lora Wondolowski, executive director of the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters. Patrick has promised to embrace RGGI, and was the first gubernatorial candidate to pledge strong support for the Cape Wind project, while many other Massachusetts politicians have tried to steer clear of the controversial issue in order to avoid angering either conservationists or wealthy liberals on Cape Cod who don't want wind turbines obstructing their ocean views. "This is a guy who understands that sustainability and energy independence are defining terms of the 21st century economy," says Wondolowski. Patrick has also pledged to steer more resources to the state's parks and environmental agencies, which have the 48th-lowest funding of any state in the nation.

Healey, meanwhile, has publicly stated her opposition to both Cape Wind and RGGI, and proposed corporate sponsorship of state parks, according to Wondolowski. "If Healey had her way, you'd be taking a nature walk in rural Massachusetts through the Ben and Jerry's state park," says Wondolowski.

According to the most recent Rasmussen poll, Patrick is ahead 57 percent to 24 percent -- a roomy 33-point lead.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), heralded in environmental circles for his clean-energy policies, has had to don his political helmet and pads in a feisty face-off against former-Pittsburg-Steeler-turned-ABC-sports-broadcaster Lynn Swann, who is running on the Republican ticket. Winner of four Super Bowls and honored in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Swann may be a political novice, but his celebrity and charisma have won him a strong following among Pennsylvania's conservative and rural voters. As a high-profile African-American, he is also popular among moderate black Democrats.

Ed Rendell.

Both the Sierra Club and the Pennsylvania League of Conservation Voters (PALCV) are throwing strong support behind Rendell, whose "record on clean-energy policy is one of the most ambitious in the nation," says PALCV Executive Director Mike Fedor. In 2004, Rendell signed into law an RPS calling for the state to get 18 percent of its electricity from clean or alternative sources by 2020. Rendell lobbied hard to get Pennsylvania to adopt California's clean-car regulations -- which it did last month -- while Swann came out against the rules. Rendell has also focused on making Pennsylvania a hub for emerging renewable-energy industries: He helped convince the Spanish wind-turbine giant Gamesa to locate its North American headquarters in Pennsylvania, and is pushing to site biofuel plants and ethanol fueling stations throughout the state.

Lynn Swann.

Rendell has also taken an aggressive stance against mercury pollution in Pennsylvania, where nearly every lake and river is under a fish-consumption advisory due to mercury contamination from coal-fired power plants. He's advocating a plan that would require the power plants to reduce mercury emissions 90 percent by 2015 -- far more ambitious than federal requirements laid out by the Bush administration. In his second budget, Rendell proposed that the state invest $800 million in preservation of farmland and open space, cleanup of old mines, and other environmental projects. The legislature eventually whittled his proposal down to $625 million, but it was still, says Fedor, "the most substantial investment in the environment that the state has made to date."

A September Keystone poll [PDF] shows Rendell ahead of Swann 52 percent to 34 percent -- a lead of 18 points.

Robert Ehrlich.

Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R), who's running for a second term, earned a D+ [PDF] from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters last year for his environmental record. While the group gave him a thumbs-up for his work on the Chesapeake Bay, he got bad marks for enabling sprawl, failing to rein in air pollution, doing little to improve mass transit, and diverting millions of dollars that had been dedicated to preserving open space, parks, and wildlands.

Martin O'Malley.

"Marylanders cannot afford another four years of Gov. Ehrlich," says Maryland LCV Executive Director Cindy Schwartz, whose organization has thrown its support behind Democratic challenger Martin O'Malley. The former mayor of Baltimore, O'Malley earned respect among enviros last year when he signed his city onto a lawsuit filed by 11 states against the Bush administration over its weak mercury regulations; Ehrlich had refused to let the state as a whole join the suit. Also, says Schwartz, "[O'Malley] has proposed an ambitious program for monitoring and cleaning up pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, and will be a strong ally in fighting sprawl and protecting open space."

According to a Sept. 19 Rasmussen poll, O'Malley has a 7-point edge among likely voters, leading 49 percent to Ehrlich's 42 percent.

Outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has earned a mixed environmental record in a state where green issues play big. Voters in Florida, with its tourism-reliant economy and booming population, care a great deal about offshore drilling, Everglades protection, and sprawl. Jeb Bush, once applauded by conservationists for convincing brother Dubya not to open the waters off Florida's coast to offshore drilling, lost favor when he buckled under Republican pressure and agreed to back a compromise that would allow offshore drilling more than 125 miles off the coastline.

Charlie Crist.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, the GOP's pick to replace Bush, is expected to hew fairly closely to the current governor's environmental agenda. Enviros have higher hopes for his Democratic opponent, Jim Davis, who has racked up a solid 83 percent lifetime rating from LCV during his eight years in the House of Representatives.

"Crist isn't horrible -- he might even be a shade better than [Jeb] Bush on the environment," says Dan Hendrickson, legal chair of Sierra Club's Florida chapter. "But Davis has been a dynamite environmental champion in Congress, and is exactly the kind of leader the Sunshine State deserves -- one who's pro-solar and pro-mass transit."

While Crist has generally opposed offshore drilling and voiced support for sustainable-development initiatives, he hasn't been considered a leader on these issues. Hendrickson worries that Crist would be swayed by the Republican Party's general pro-industry slant: "My sense is that, as a moderate governor, he'd have trouble dragging against the GOP influence. He'd sit on sidelines."

Jim Davis.

Davis, for his part, has been at the forefront of the congressional fight to keep oil drills out of Florida's coastal waters, and has consistently voted to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well. He's also been a strong advocate for Everglades restoration, renewable energy, and energy conservation.

Recent polls give Crist the advantage. An Oct. 2 survey of likely voters by Rasmussen Reports found Crist with 54 percent support compared to Davis' 38 percent.

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Mat Lindstedt was a typical 12-year-old growing up in San Jose during the 1970s. He spent his summers braving the runaway mine ride, paddling the Indian war canoes, and riding the lazy burros at Frontier Village amusement park.

Riding an endangered species.

Photo: iStockphoto

But Lindstedt's summers changed in 1980, when the owners of Frontier Village decided the park's 33 acres would fetch them far more dollars in the San Jose real-estate market than it ever would as a kiddie kingdom. The park never stood a chance, and closed its gates for good.

"It was heart-wrenching," Lindstedt says today. "The park sat there all closed up. They auctioned off some of the stuff, but ... the things that were left were just rotting away. It was kind of sad to see this place all decrepit and failing."

Today, a good portion of Frontier Village is a city park -- not a bad use of the land, in Lindstedt's opinion. But you can hear the cringe in Lindstedt's voice as he reports that the other half is home to a large condo complex. Worst of all? The developers had the nerve to call their development "Frontier Village."

It's not an uncommon story. Running a small, regional amusement park -- defined by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions as one that draws fewer than 500,000 visitors a year -- is no easy task. Insurance costs are high. Competition from larger parks is intense. Attendance traditionally dips significantly once the summer ends. So it's no surprise that owners often sell their parks to developers willing to pay big money. The problem comes when land that included some amount of open space is swallowed by shopping centers, strip malls, and high-density subdivisions.

Jim Futrell, historian with the National Amusement Park Historical Association, says he's seen more amusement park closings in the last two to three years than in the previous 25. The number of active amusement parks in the U.S. is about 600, according to the IAAPA, and half of these are small, regional parks. In 2005, the country's parks generated about $11.2 billion in revenues from 335 million visitors.

Those numbers actually increased from the previous years, but still the closings come. Futrell doesn't have any statistics on the fate of closed parks -- he doesn't know how many became strip malls or condominium developments -- but he's familiar enough with the industry to know that's the fate of many.

Those concerned about this growing trend, a mixed crew consisting of nostalgia-driven amusement park junkies, neighbors concerned with traffic resulting from new businesses and housing, and open-space advocates, say there must be a better use of old amusement parks. Many of them are willing to fight for it -- with mixed results.

Consider the fates of two other independent amusement parks. One appears destined, despite the efforts of a group of citizens, to become a gated housing community. The other has become a busy public recreation area, complete with reminders of the destination it once was. Why the difference? It may be as simple as the land upon which the parks sit.

Since 2001, Allyson Bowen has fought to save Whalom Park, a more than 100-year-old facility in Lunenburg, Mass. Bowen's family had run the park since 1935, but in the late 1990s, an uncle sold his shares in the Whalom Park Amusement Company. This left the Bowen family with control over just 41 percent of the enterprise.

Citing the costs of operating and dwindling profits, the company shut Whalom down at the end of the 2000 summer season. In 2005, a developer signed an option on the property, and is planning to build an upper-end gated community of 240 condominiums called Emerald Place on the site.

Historic postcard of Whalom Park, built in 1893.

Bowen, who no longer lives in the area, has spent long hours rallying support for the park, encouraging donors to raise money through her website. She originally planned to use the money to create an investment group to buy back the land, but that plan failed. Bowen next worked with Lunenburg residents to convince the town's planning board to raise more than $5 million to reclaim the park's land through eminent domain. That effort, too, failed, with the board voting in support of the condo plan.

Now, Bowen is ready to concede. She says she never expected to reopen Whalom Park in its old form, saying that was unfeasible. But she did hope to turn the site into a public park and recreation area, repairing and refurbishing some of the old buildings, including a vintage roller rink and the building that housed Whalom's antique carousel. That, Bowen says, would be a far better, and friendlier, use of the land than a gated community.

"People are telling me now that this is over, you can at least move on," Bowen said. "Yeah, that's great. But the issue really isn't my issue anymore. It's the town of Lunenburg's issue. I live in New York City now, so I have Central Park. It's the people in the town who have lost their amusement park and are going to have all this new housing come into their town. They're about to lose their drive-in theater, too. They are losing the things that make people want to live in the town in the first place."

The fight isn't completely over. Four residents abutting the proposed site of Emerald Place have filed a lawsuit challenging the development, saying that the planning board did not act in the best interests of nearby residents when approving the project. Bowen, though, has little hope that the lawsuit will save Whalom.

"I think it gets to the point where you're tilting at windmills, and that's sad," she said. "I knew eminent domain was a long shot. But turning Whalom into a public park could have worked, and it would have been such a better idea than bringing more housing to the area."

There is another option, though, for parks that face the wrecking ball, and it's the one that the citizens in Lunenburg tried unsuccessfully: turning old amusement parks into public recreation areas. This allows the parks to retain their history, and places less of a strain on the land than condominiums or shopping centers. In fact, open space puts less stress on the land than even small amusement parks; no one would say, after all, that having crowds lining up in front of roller coasters or funhouses is a low-stress use of land.

The concept has worked well in Glen Echo, Md., home of Glen Echo Park, which operated as an amusement park from the early 1900s through the 1968 season. That year, its owners announced that they were shutting the facility. Three years later, the National Park Service took over ownership, shipped out most of the rides, and turned the site into a public recreation center.

Glen Echo Park's Spanish Ballroom
comes alive every weekend.

Photo: NPS/Sally Ehrlich Hoffmann

Today, the nonprofit Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture runs the park. Remnants of its past include a restored carousel, an arcade building, and a large Spanish ballroom. Groups such as Glen Echo Dance and Movement, Discovery Creek Children's Museum, and The Puppet Co. hold classes and performances on the grounds.

Katey Boerner, executive director of the Glen Echo partnership, agrees that having a public park and tribute to Glen Echo Park's past is preferable to staring up at rows of townhouses or yet another Bed Bath & Beyond. A major reason the land didn't fall into the hands of residential or commercial developers, though, was probably its location, Boerner says. A bit of luck was involved: The amusement park sat on the Potomac palisades near Bethesda, Md. It'd take either amazing guile or truly terrible planning for anyone to suggest putting up condos on such a historic piece of land.

About 500,000 visitors stop by Glen Echo every year, a testament to the strong draw of open space, water views, and history. "There was definitely an environmental reason to keep this a public open space," Boerner said. "The goal was never to save the rides of the old park, but to save the land and some of the historic older buildings. I think this has been a wonderful public use of this land. I can't think of a better use for it."

In the end, the land may be what made the difference between the fates of Whalom Park and Glen Echo. Open-space proponents across the country might consider researching the sites on which closed amusement parks -- and even still functioning ones -- sit. These are prime parcels whose future is too often decided by economics alone.

Back in San Jose, Lindstedt is doing his part to keep at least the memories of Frontier Village alive with a website he created and runs. Every year, he attends a picnic at the former grounds of the park with other fans, who reminisce about the days when the likes of Tonto and Lorne Green dropped by. Unfortunately, memories are all this crowd of devotees has left. "I think I'll always miss this park," Lindstedt says. "And I really don't like those condos at all."

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