Green Foothills Remembers: Barbara Green

The Green Foothills community was saddened to learn of the passing of Barbara L. Green, an ardent advocate for open space protection, who served on our board from 1985-91.

Barbara was born to Colonel Cecil and Florence Land at Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 8, 1938. The Land family moved regularly to many Army posts, including in Georgia, Louisiana, Wyoming and Germany. In her early adult years in Sunnyvale, Barbara focused on raising her children.

Barbara’s sparkling eyes, infectious laughter, and genuine interest in people enabled her to inspire many others to join her in working to acquire public open space and parklands, provide access for all, and leave a legacy of thousands of acres of permanently protected land.   Upon joining the Green Foothills board, she wrote in our Summer 1985 newsletter, “I am strongly convinced that we cannot afford to take open space for granted any longer. My goal is to increase people’s awareness of the open space we have, and the need to protect what is yet unprotected.”

Her deep love of nature and abiding interest in politics and land use decision-making were intertwined in a stellar career that included service as a member of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, the Santa Clara County Planning Commission, and the Trail Center, in addition to the Green Foothills board. After moving to Truckee in 1991, she was appointed to the Nevada County Planning Commission, and subsequently was elected to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors. She also became a board member for the League to Save Lake Tahoe and the Truckee Donner Land Trust. To top off her public service career, she served on the Truckee Town Council for two terms, including as Mayor in 2008.

Survived by children Bill Green of Huntington Beach, Carolyn Westgaard of Palo Alto, and Sarah Green of Truckee, Barbara is a great example of what one person can do to make a difference for the future of the planet and the people who inhabit it.

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