Point Reyes National Seashore: Tomales Bay Environmental History and Historic Resource Study.

摘要

Set forty-five miles northwest of San Francisco, Tomales Bay is a coastal estuary that lies along a rift valley of the San Andreas Fault between the Point Reyes Peninsula and the California mainland. Shaped by dramatic geological and meteorological forces, the landscape around Tomales Bay reveals startling contrasts. The grassy, windswept hills on the bays east side are sparsely populated and dotted with dairy and beef ranches, while a handful of oyster farms, restaurants, and marinas line the shore. Serene beaches and lush bishop pine forests lure visitors to the bays western side. Settlements of strikingly different character, from the picturesque homes and gardens of Inverness to the trailer park at Lawsons Landing, are set along both sides of the bay. Tomales Bay is twelve-and-a-half miles long and drains 228 square miles, almost half of Marin County. The bay and its shores are habitat for tens of thousands of birds, home to thousands of people, production point of a fifth of Californias oyster crop, and host to millions of visitors per year. The purpose of this study is not only to examine the political, social, and economic changes brought about by successive generations of Tomales Bay residents but also to examine the interactions between these residents and the natural world.