Caspar is a small village on the north coast of California. Caspar's cluster of houses huddles together for protection from the storms and big ocean. Caspar is practically invisible to folks whizzing past along Highway One -- a church steeple (now the Jewish Community Center), a schoolhouse (now the Community Center) and the remnants of a thriving turn-of-the-century mill town. Caspar (pop. 500+/-) lies between Fort Bragg, our local "big town" and Mendocino, the tourist destination. Caspar is blessed with two perfect beaches, a community center, a bar, a shul, art galleries, businesses, and a strong sense of place. At least wave when you drive by!

Caspar, stubbornly and proudly unincorporated, governs itself by consensus, valuing inclusion -- if you think you are a Caspar, you are! -- and sustainability: we hope to keep on doing what we keep on doing for a very long time.

Designing Caspar

The Headlands and Community Center are ours! Sixty-five magnificent acres of meadow and rich riparian land are now recovering from over-grazing and industrial onslaught, while the community celebrates and does its business in the old school house that has been its center for a century. But there is more business needing our attention.

Much of downtown Caspar is still for sale -- at least the 140+/- acres owned by the Caspar Cattle Company. Does anyone have a spare $11,500,000? (The price has just gone up! Was $3.5 mill, but for you, today only, $11.5 mill!) The open space -- now designated a highly scenic corridor -- and the duck pond, the water (now being trucked to Mendocino ...and wasted flushing toilets): how can these be integrated into our community sensibly and with fairness to the whole North Coast?

Would the people of Caspar like to own their future? How we envision Caspar in a decade ... or a century? In a series of meetings beginning in August of 1997, the people of Caspar began talking and dreaming about saving the headlands, preserving the ambiance, and improving and protecting the quality of all life in Caspar. We are a diverse group, and our visions often start out divergent ...but as we seek to share the greater vision, one that preserves community, we find that we have an uncanny shared ability to be patient, inclusive, and to reach consensus about what really matters. The beginning of the unofficial history -- luckily, not much is "official" in Caspar anyway -- can be found on the Caspar Plan page.

The latest doings are always chronicled starting at the Caspar Press page.

Get Notified

Casparados -- you know who you are -- receive notification of community events and concerns by email, having identified themselves by emailing us at caspar@mcn.org. We invite you to join in the fun and hard work.

Homework

Many residents of Caspar have been actively working to design Caspar's future for years now. We invite anyone interested to come and help: the task is huge, but the work is rewarding. We have already chalked up three big wins -- getting the beach and headlands into the hands of the people of the state of California and securing our own Community Center. Before coming to a meeting, we URGE you read the summary of the planning process, posted on the Planning Archives so you will know what has already been decided, and why.

Want to help? Pledges needed

Our activities are supported by a small but fanatical band of pledgers whose monthly checks and credit card donation keep Caspar's work moving forward. To join them, please click to the Pledge page.

Timber Harvesting in Caspar

Small timber exemptions turned out to be a big issue in Caspar, where residents rose up and rammed through state-wide legislation to close loopholes being abused by greedy profiteers. We firmly believe that when something affects us adversely, we must stand up for all those who are affected.

Caspar's backyard, also known as Jackson State Demonstration Forest, is one of the prettiest redwood forests still standing, despite the best efforts of a timber-industry dominated manager (California Division of Forestry) and a perpetually poor owner (the State of California), and many of us participate in planning (in the face of this conflicted bureaucracy) a reasonable future for the riches on the eastern border of our village. Please visit the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest's website for the latest information about this issue.