Center for Biological Diversity
BECAUSE LIFE IS GOOD

Protecting endangered species and wild places through
science, policy, education, and environmental law.

CENTER ECOLOGIST APPOINTED
TO TUCSON PLANNING COMMISSION

Daniel Patterson will help guide city development and quality-of-life decisions

NEWS RELEASE: for immediate release December 6, 2005

Contact: Daniel R. Patterson 520.906.2159

TUCSON - Last night the Mayor and City Council appointed Daniel R. Patterson, Ecologist & Deserts Program Director with the Center for Biological Diversity, to the influential City Planning Commission.

The 13-member Planning Commission advises the Mayor and Council and the Department of Urban Planning and Design on the adoption of long-range plans, policies, specific plans and regulations that affect development.

Steve Leal, Vice Mayor and Ward Five Councilman, nominated Patterson to represent Ward Five on the Commission. He was sworn in today for a four-year term, and will join the Commission at its December meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall.

"I love Tucson and care deeply about improving our quality of life and environment," said Patterson. "As an ecologist seeking solutions, I'll work closely with Tucson citizens, leaders and businesses so we can develop more sustainably and protect and improve our local economy and environment."

Patterson lives with his wife and daughter in Santa Rita Park, south of downtown, where he is Vice President of the Neighborhood Association. He is a political Independent, and has lived in Tucson since 1994. Daniel is a graduate of Michigan State University's College of Natural Resources, and formerly worked with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

He plans to focus on promoting quality of life, boosting infill development, conserving water and wildlife habitat, increasing clean renewable energy use, improving air quality, expanding clean transit, and reducing the "urban heat island" effect. Daniel is particularly interested in a move by the city to join the county's Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

Peter Galvin, Conservation Director and co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, praised Patterson's appointment to the City Planning Commission stating: "Daniel has consistently spoken out for conservation, progressive values and common sense over the years. Daniel Patterson is a great conservationist and will make a terrific Commissioner."

The city of Tucson is the second largest in Arizona, and 32nd largest in the U.S. - bigger than Atlanta, Oakland, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Sacramento, Miami, and others - with an estimated 512,000 residents in 2004. Tucson is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation; it is the regional hub of Pima County and Southern Arizona.

 

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