Issue Areas: Water Quality and Watersheds Biodiversity and Endangered Species Environmental Health/ Environmental Justice Land Use and Open Space Protection Offshore Oil and Gas Public Access Case Docket			Land Use and Open Space Protection Our quality of life on the Central Coast is in large part due to the large expanses of open space and agricultural lands both within and outside of our urban areas. Preservation of this character and quality of life is certainly not accidental; it requires sound, community based, comprehensive land use planning. The goals of EDC’s land use and open space protection program are to promote sustainable land use planning policies and decisions that protect both rural and urban open spaces and maintain discrete urban centers. The objectives of EDC’s efforts in this arena are to: identify and preserve key open space areas; protect agricultural land from urban development; encourage regional planning; and ensure that development does not exceed carrying capacity.   Photo by Eric Cárdenas.