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Nicasio is a tiny village just about in the center of Marin county. It has a red one-room schoolhouse, a little plaza, several false-fronted buildings, and Old Saint Mary's church. This image was acquired early in the morning, just as the bright sun begins to burn off the fog.

The people of Marin county have worked hard over the years to preserve and protect their unique landscape. Here, well within commuting range of San Francisco, we have a little town such as Nicasio, hardly changed since the turn of the century, surrounded by miles of dairy land. The only nearby development is George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, tucked back out of sight in a deep valley. We owe this landscape to land use planning and conservation initiatives -- development rights for most agricultural land in the county belong to trusts, which allow the owners to continue farming, but not to develop. The contrast to Southern California, where nothing is allowed to stand in the way of suburban sprawl, is striking.

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