The film portrays the ordinary citizens who did extraordinary things to save what are now the Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area from development, creating an 80 mile-long park that supports open space, recreation, agriculture and wildlife.
In the 1950s, the vision for the Marin County coast was all too familiar: the rural area would become an extension of San Francisco, resembling Menlo Park or Malibu; hundreds of thousands of people would reside in suburban housing developments between Bolinas and Tomales Bay; an eight lane freeway would connect the Richmond Bridge with Point Reyes Station; rural Highway One would become a multi-lane freeway; and harbors, marinas, and hotels would cover Bolinas Lagoon, Limantaur Estero and Tomales Bay.
At the time most people assumed agriculture in the region was dead and the county’s dairymen and ranchers would become rich selling their land to real estate developers and move their operations elsewhere. Urbanization seemed unavoidable, especially for a rural area so close to a burgeoning city like San Francisco. That this did not come to pass is the compelling and epic story of Rebels with a Cause.
Location:
Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street
Berkeley, CA