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Bolinas, California

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110-510: Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County , California , United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately 13 miles (21 km) (straight line distance) northwest of San Francisco , and 27 miles (43 km) by road. The community is known for its reclusive residents. It

220-561: A Mexican land grant given by Governor Pío Pico to Gregorio Briones in 1846. The first post office in the town of Bolinas opened in 1863. The post office closed on March 3, 2023, leaving the town more isolated. The town's residents have petitioned for it to reopen. In 1927, a 300 acres (121 ha) former dairy farm on the Big Mesa was subdivided into a grid of streets and 5,336 lots measuring 20 ft × 100 ft (6.1 m × 30.5 m). Many of these lots were sold for $ 69.50 by

330-648: A census-designated place (CDP). A CDP is an area defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. It is a populated area that generally includes one officially designated but currently unincorporated community for which the CDP is named, plus surrounding inhabited countryside of varying dimensions, and occasionally other smaller unincorporated communities as well. Otherwise, it has no legal status. The Census Bureau designates some unincorporated areas as "unorganized territories", as defined by

440-424: A county island is surrounded on most or all sides by municipalities. In areas of sparse population, the majority of the land in any given state may be unincorporated. Some states, including North Carolina , grant extraterritorial jurisdiction to cities and towns (but rarely villages) so that they may control zoning for a limited distance into adjacent unincorporated areas, often as a precursor (and sometimes as

550-585: A local services board in Ontario. In New Brunswick, where a significant population lives in a local service district , taxation and services may come directly from the province. The entire area of the Czech Republic is divided into municipalities ; the only exceptions are four military training areas . These are parts of the regions and do not form self-governing municipalities, but are rather governed by military offices ( újezdní úřad ), which are subordinate to

660-562: A warm-summer Mediterranean climate , abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Like much of the California coast, summer afternoons are often cool and windy (and sometimes foggy) as winds blow in off the ocean. It receives more rain than other coast cities in the San Francisco Bay Area in this latitude with 1,034.70 mm (40.736 in) of rain. The 2010 United States Census reported that the Bolinas CDP ( Census-designated place ) had

770-456: A "place or area with clustered or scattered buildings, and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village)." No legal boundaries exist, although a corresponding "civil" record may occur, the boundaries of which may or may not match the perceived populated place. Some nations have some exceptional unincorporated areas: Many countries, especially those with many centuries of history with multiple tiers of local government, do not use

880-503: A "potential wilderness area" by Congress. The farm's supporters argued that it was not ecologically harmful and was important to the local economy. On November 29, 2012, Salazar announced that he would not renew the permit, citing the original intent of the Point Reyes Wilderness Act to designate the area as wilderness upon the removal of the oyster farm. Salazar visited the farm the previous week and later personally phoned

990-765: A 2000 population of 1,560 people (see map). Bolinas is in the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District , the Tamalpais Union High School District , and the Marin Community College District . Students in primary grades (kindergarten – grade 2) attend Stinson Beach School , while elementary grade students (grades 3–8) attend Bolinas School . Bolinas is included in the attendance area of Tamalpais High School , in Mill Valley . In 1951, Ford Times identified Bolinas as

1100-500: A call from San Francisco, over 10 miles away and out of their broadcast range. This sticker was put on by the prop makers as they were likely in or around the area listening to the station while making the helmets. Unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation . There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada. In Argentina,

1210-414: A closed-cone conifer, is also present. Salt, brackish, and freshwater marshlands are found adjacent to Drakes Estero and Abbotts Lagoon . The other communities identified by Evens are the coastal strand, dominated by European beach grass ( Ammophila arenaria ), ice plant ( Carprobrotus edulis , also called sea fig or Hottentot fig ), sea rocket ( Cakile maritima ) and other species that thrive on

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1320-622: A council of their own, usually an Ortsvorsteher or Ortsvorsteherin (village chairman / chairwoman) is appointed by the municipal council, except in the very smallest villages. In 2000, the number of unincorporated areas in Germany, called gemeindefreie Gebiete (municipality-free areas) or singular gemeindefreies Gebiet , was 295 with a total area of 4,890 km (1,890 sq mi) and around 1.4% of its territory. However, these are mostly unpopulated areas such as forests, lakes and their surroundings, military training areas, and

1430-436: A descriptive name, followed by the designation "unorganized territory". Unorganized territories were first used for statistical purposes in conjunction with the 1960 census. At the 2000 census there were 305 of these territories within the United States. Their total land area was 85,392 square miles (221,165 km ) and they had a total population of 247,331. South Dakota had the most unorganized territories, 102, as well as

1540-453: A few other unique cases, almost all of Australia is part of an LGA. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas, or have very small populations. Postal addresses in unincorporated areas, as in other parts of Australia, normally use the suburb or locality names gazetted by the relevant state or territorial government. Thus, any ambiguity regarding addresses rarely exists in unincorporated areas. In Canada, depending on

1650-463: A form of direct democracy, such as the open town meeting or representative town meeting . Larger towns in New England may be incorporated as cities, with some form of mayor-council government. In New Jersey, multiple types exist, as well, such as city , township , town , borough , or village , but these differences are in the structure of the legislative branches, not in the powers or functions of

1760-462: A legal requirement) to later annexation of those areas. This is especially useful in rural counties that have no zoning at all, or only spot zoning for unincorporated communities. In California, all counties except the City and County of San Francisco have unincorporated areas. Even in highly populated counties, the unincorporated portions may contain a large number of inhabitants. In Los Angeles County ,

1870-625: A narrow sandy beach, from which Drakes Beach can be glimpsed across Drakes Bay . North Beach and South Beach are often windswept and wave-pounded. Ocean vistas from higher ground can be seen from the Tomales Point Trail and, to the south, from the Palomarin trailhead at the park's southern entrance outside the town of Bolinas . All of the park's beaches were listed as the cleanest in the state in 2010. For backpackers , Point Reyes has four hike-in campgrounds available by reservation. Point Reyes

1980-450: A part of an incorporated place, changes to another incorporated place, or disincorporates. For example, places in Kingwood, Texas , previously unincorporated, retained "Kingwood, TX" mailing addresses after the 1996 annexation of Kingwood into the city of Houston . The Houston city government stated on its website, "The U.S. Postal Service establishes ZIP codes and mailing addresses to maximize

2090-527: A petition to the United States Supreme Court was denied on June 30, 2014. The oyster farm closed its on site retail operation on July 31, 2014. However, controversy continued over the condition of the estero sea floor and the ongoing off shore operations. Another lawsuit challenging the closure itself was rejected in September 2014. The work to remove the offshore racks and onshore buildings

2200-511: A place name is "acceptable" in a mailing address or not, as is the case with Lithia Springs, Georgia . ZIP Code boundaries often ignore political boundaries, so the appearance of a place name in a mailing address alone does not indicate whether the place is incorporated or unincorporated. Unincorporated areas with permanent populations in the United States are defined by the United States Geological Survey as "populated places",

2310-473: A population between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the status of designated place in Canadian census data. In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country are unorganized areas that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction. Some unincorporated settlements in such unorganized areas may have some types of municipal services provided to them by a quasigovernmental agency such as

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2420-407: A population of 1,620. The population density was 278.0 inhabitants per square mile (107.3/km). The racial makeup of Bolinas was 1,406 (86.8%) White, 27 (1.7%) African American, 10 (0.6%) Native American, 17 (1.0%) Asian, 14 (0.9%) Pacific Islander, 64 (4.0%) from other races, and 82 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 260 people (16.0%). The census reported that 88.4% of

2530-422: Is a small group of islands that forms the easternmost part of Denmark. This small archipelago lies 20 kilometers northeast of Bornholm and is the only part of metropolitan Denmark which is not part of a municipality. The islands have been under military jurisdiction since 1685 when Denmark turned Christiansø into a naval base to in response to Sweden creating Karlskrona naval base a few years earlier. In 1926,

2640-623: Is a terminus of the American Discovery Trail which is the only transcontinental trail in the United States. Point Reyes State Marine Reserve & Point Reyes State Marine Conservation Area , Estero de Limantour State Marine Reserve & Drakes Estero State Marine Conservation Area and Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area adjoin Point Reyes National Seashore. These marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. A large oyster farm

2750-449: Is allowed on Tomales Bay . Point Reyes has a system of about 150 miles of hiking trails for day hiking and backpacking. Bear Valley Trail is the most popular hike in the park. It travels mostly streamside through a shaded, fern-laden canyon, breaking out at Divide Meadow before heading downward to the coast, where it emerges at Arch Rock. A portion of Arch Rock collapsed on March 21, 2015, killing one person. Three trails connecting from

2860-522: Is bound on the northeast by Bolinas Lagoon and Kent Island , on the south by Bolinas Bay and Duxbury Point, on the southwest by the Pacific Ocean , and on the northwest by Point Reyes National Seashore . According to the United States Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 5.8 square miles (15 km), all of it land. The GNIS has cited archaic alternate town-names, including "Ballenas", "Baulenas", "Baulings", and "Bawlines". Bolinas' downtown

2970-679: Is located on the eastern side of town along Wharf Road, which ends at Bolinas Lagoon. The downtown buildings were mostly built between 1850 and 1920. Brighton Avenue connects downtown to the south-facing Brighton Beach. In the southeast corner of town is the Little Mesa. The Big Mesa, also known as the Gridded Mesa, lies to the west, with Agate Beach at its western end. By air, Bolinas is just 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest of San Rafael , and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of San Francisco. While located just 2 miles (3.2 km) from State Route 1 ,

3080-639: Is needed. In his book The Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula , Jules Evens identifies several plant communities. One of the most prominent is the Coastal Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) forest, which includes Coast live oak , Tanoak , and California bay and reaches across the southern half of Inverness Ridge toward Bolinas Lagoon . Unlogged parts of this Douglas-fir forest contain trees over 300 years old and up to 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter. But despite these large, old trees,

3190-501: Is one of the most populated places in Georgia but is served by a branch of the Atlanta post office. Only after the city was incorporated in 2005 was "Sandy Springs" approved for use in mailing addresses, though "Atlanta" remains the default name. Accordingly, "Atlanta" is the only accepted place name for mailing addresses in the nearby unincorporated town of Vinings , also served by a branch of

3300-596: Is only accessible via unmarked roads; any road sign along State Route 1 that points the way into town has been torn down by local residents, to the point where county officials offered a ballot measure to which the voters responded by stating a preference for no more signs. Prior to the European colonization of California, the Coast Miwok lived in the area, possibly calling the area "Bali-N". Bolinas and present-day Stinson Beach were once encompassed by Rancho Las Baulines ,

3410-581: Is subdivided into 393 municipalities which are further classified, normally by population, as city , local council , or regional council . All three types of municipality provide services including zoning and planning. However, a few unincorporated areas exist, whether because of omissions and ambiguities left in official maps dating from the British Mandate for Palestine , or due to deliberate policy of ensuring facilities of national importance, such as Ben Gurion Airport , Mikveh Israel boarding school, or

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3520-529: Is the Longyearbyen Community Council in Svalbard, which since 2004 in reality acts partly like a Norwegian municipality. Svalbard has a governor appointed by the government of Norway, ruling the area. Jan Mayen has no population, only radio and weather stations with staff, whose manager has the responsibility for the activities. Bouvet Island has only occasional visitors. In local government in

3630-408: The 1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill , with the community coming together to clean the beach of crude oil. The Bolinas Museum was founded in 1983. Today, it contains five galleries featuring contemporary art, historical information, and works from local artists. Today, it puts on auctions and events for locals and visitors alike. Bolinas sits at an elevation of 36 feet (11 m) above sea level. It

3740-531: The BAZAN Group oil refineries, would not have their operation affected by local considerations. The largest unincorporated area in Israel is the so-called "Reservation area", a triangular region whose vertexes are Beersheba , Dimona and Arad , in which all Negev Bedouins were concentrated in the 1950s. As no municipal services are provided within unincorporated areas, this effectively makes all Bedouin settlements in

3850-545: The Endangered Species Act . The Point Reyes Lighthouse attracts whale-watchers looking for the gray whale migrating south in mid-January and north in mid-March. Elephant seals were first observed in 1981 as they recolonized Chimney Beach, which is protected by 100-foot (30 m) cliffs. In January 2019, during the federal government shutdown , park rangers were not working and the seals had pups on Drakes Beach and its parking lot. Small-group tours to view

3960-588: The Ministry of Defence . Note: The Brdy Military Area was abandoned by the Army in 2015 and converted into a protected landscape area , with its area being incorporated either into existing municipalities or into newly established municipalities based on the existing settlements. The other four military training areas were reduced in size in 2015 too. The decisions on whether the settlements joined existing municipalities or formed new ones were made by plebiscites. Ertholmene

4070-542: The National Register of Historic Places . The Point Reyes National Seashore attracts 2.5 million visitors annually. Hostelling International USA (part of Hostelling International ) maintains a 45-bed youth hostel at the Seashore. The Point Reyes National Seashore Association, formed in 1964, collaborates with the Seashore on maintenance, restoration and educational projects. More than 30,000 acres (120 km ) of

4180-587: The North American Plate at an average rate of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) per year. Point Reyes National Seashore borders Bolinas to the northwest. Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area encompasses Bolinas' western shoreline. Bolinas experiences warm (occasionally hot) and dry summers, with some average monthly days in summer months above 77.1 °F (25.1 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Bolinas has

4290-716: The Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Southern IJsselmeerpolders Public Body). In 1984, the Landdrost became the first mayor of the new city Almere. Since that date, the Netherlands does not have any unincorporated land areas. The Openbaar Lichaam remained, however, only governing the water body of the Markermeer . After the municipal division of the Wadden Sea (1985), the territorial waters in

4400-507: The San Francisco Bulletin as a subscription promotion. Portions of the mesa, including sections of Ocean Parkway, have since eroded into the sea. A few streets on the mesa are paved and maintained by the county, but many are unpaved, and either maintained by adjoining property owners or completely unmaintained. The Big Mesa has no sewer system, and houses on the mesa have individual septic systems. The Bolinas beaches were hit hard by

4510-646: The United States Postal Service (USPS) (indeed, some have their own post offices), and the Census Bureau uses the names of some widely recognized unincorporated communities for its CDPs for which it tabulates census data. In some instances, unincorporated areas have a mailing address indicating the name of an incorporated city, as well as those where residents of one incorporated city have mailing addresses indicating another incorporated city. Mailing addresses do not necessarily change whether an area becomes

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4620-637: The northeastern states . All of the land in New Jersey , Connecticut , Massachusetts , New York , and Rhode Island , and nearly all of the land in New Hampshire , Pennsylvania , and Vermont , is part of an incorporated area of some type. In these areas, types (and official names) of local government entities can vary. In New England (which includes five of those eight states, plus the less fully incorporated state of Maine ), local municipalities are known as towns or cities, and most towns are administered by

4730-648: The 1981 novel Ecotopia Emerging by Ernest Callenbach . Wildflowers , a 1999 film starring Daryl Hannah , was partly filmed in Bolinas. Stickers that say "Radio Free Bolinas" were subtly put on a couple of the Y-wing pilot helmets seen in Return of the Jedi . Radio Free Bolinas was a pirate radio station that was founded in 1978, and was shut down by the FCC sometime after the station had

4840-660: The Atlanta post office, even though Vinings is in Cobb County and Atlanta is in Fulton and DeKalb counties. In contrast, neighboring Mableton has not been incorporated in nearly a century, but has its own post office and thus "Mableton" is the only acceptable place name for mailing addresses in the town. The areas of Dulah and Faria , California, which are unincorporated areas in Ventura County between Ventura and Carpinteria , have

4950-908: The Bolinas Community Public Utility District was formed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. It merged two local water districts, the Bolinas Beach Public Utility District which served the Big Mesa, and the Bolinas Public Utility District which served the Downtown and Little Mesa, with the Marin County Sanitary District #3, formed in 1908 to provide sewer service in the downtown. The BCPUD provides water service and solid waste pickup throughout Bolinas, and sewer service to

5060-551: The CDP in 2000 was 77.7% non-Hispanic White, 0.5% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from other races, and 4.3% from two or more races. 16.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 486 households 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.3% were non-families. Of all households, 32.1% were one person and 4.5% had someone living alone who

5170-528: The California Coastal Act. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected an appeal of the district court's decision, ruling on Sept. 3, 2013 that the oyster farm's owner had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits because Salazar had acted within his discretion in denying the permit. An attempt to have the appeals court rehear the case was rejected on January 14, 2014 and

5280-469: The Downtown and Little Mesa. In November 1971, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District instituted a moratorium on new water permits, which halted the construction of new homes. The moratorium was based on the limited local water supply during the summer months and in drought years, and also serves to limit new development in Bolinas. In 1990, the BCPUD enacted a moratorium on new sewer connections, to address

5390-461: The Drakes Bay Historic and Archaeological District National Historic Landmark . This encompasses 5,965 acres (24.14 km ) along the coast of Drakes Bay. Kule Loklo , a re-created Coast Miwok village, is a short walk from the visitor center. Lairds Landing was the site of a wharf on the southwest shore of Tomales Bay. It was named after ranchers, Charles and George Laird, who leased

5500-910: The Farallones National Marine Sanctuary . The town also hosts the Marin-Bolinas Botanical Gardens , and borders on the Point Reyes National Seashore to the north. Alamere Falls , one of only two beach waterfalls in the continental U.S., is on the California Coastal Trail from Palomarin Trailhead at the end of Mesa Road. Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area lies offshore from Bolinas. Like an underwater park, this marine protected area helps conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. Bolinas and its reclusive reputation are featured in

5610-692: The Limantour Spit. An endemic (restricted to one area) and rare coastal pine known as the Bishop pine grows here. The north segment includes the Tomales Point area, which is an open grassland peninsula that separates the Pacific Ocean to the west from the Tomales Bay, a submerged valley, on the east. A reserve for the reintroduced tule elk is in this section. Although there are no trailcamps, boat-in camping

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5720-492: The Limantour wilderness area of the Seashore and above Drakes Beach to Ranch A, as that ranch's long-term lease expired and was not renewed. The drought in 2012–2015 was also a threat to the elk confined north of the fence on Tomales Point, with nearly half the elk there dying from lack of water. In 2012 there were 540 elk, then only 357 in 2013, and by 2014 only 286. In August and September 2020, drought and wildfires again threaten

5830-704: The Marin County Environmental Health Services and the National Park Service found the ranches were discharging raw sewage either through leaks or missing septic systems. The Point Reyes Lifeboat Station is a National Historic Landmark . It is the last remaining example of a rail-launched lifeboat station that was common on the Pacific coast. Nova Albion , Francis Drake's 1579 campsite; Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho 's 1595 wreck; and fifteen associated Native American sites are included in

5940-567: The North Sea (1991) and the IJsselmeer (1994), all water bodies are now also part of a municipality and no unincorporated areas exist in the Netherlands anymore. The Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders was dissolved in 1996. The New Zealand outlying islands are offshore island groups that are part of New Zealand. The Chatham Islands is the only island group among these that are populated and it has its own territorial authority . Most of

6050-783: The Point Reyes National Seashore are designated as the Phillip Burton Wilderness, named in honor of California Congressman Phillip Burton , who wrote the legislation creating the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and was instrumental in helping to pass the California Wilderness Act of 1984 . The US Congress passed legislation ( Public Law 94-544) in 1976 that created the Point Reyes Wilderness, and in 1985, Congress, in recognition of Burton's dedication to wilderness preservation, renamed

6160-414: The Tomales Point elk, leading some conservationists to illegally bring water to the elk north of the fence. The Park Service began a public review and comment period in 2023 on a proposal remove of the tule elk fence with a final decision expected in the summer of 2024. The preserve is also very rich in raptors and shorebirds . The western snowy plover that nests here is considered "threatened" under

6270-482: The U.S. Census Bureau where portions of counties are not included in any legally established minor civil division (MCD) or independent incorporated place. These occur in 10 MCD states: Arkansas , Indiana , Iowa , Louisiana , Maine , Minnesota , North Carolina , North Dakota , Ohio , and South Dakota . The census recognizes such separate pieces of territory as one or more separate county subdivisions for statistical purposes. It assigns each unorganized territory

6380-496: The United States , an unincorporated area generally refers to the part of a county that is outside any municipality. An unincorporated community is one general term for a geographic area having a common social identity without municipal organization or official political designation (i.e., incorporation as a city or town). The two main types of unincorporated communities are: Most states have granted some form of home rule , so that county commissions (or boards or councils) have

6490-559: The United States by Congress. Currently, the five major unincorporated U.S. insular areas are American Samoa , Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands . Unincorporated insular areas can be ceded to another nation or be granted independence. The U.S. has one incorporated insular area, Palmyra Atoll . Incorporation is regarded as perpetual by the U.S. federal government; once incorporated,

6600-638: The ZIP Code of 93001, which is assigned to the post office at 675 E. Santa Clara St. in Ventura; thus, all mail to those two areas is addressed to Ventura. If an unincorporated area becomes incorporated, it may be split among ZIP Codes, and its new name may be recognized as acceptable for use with some or all of them in mailing addresses, as has been the case in Johns Creek and Milton, Georgia . If an incorporated area disincorporates, though, this has no effect on whether

6710-456: The area unrecognized , with the sole exception of those that were included from 2003 within the Abu Basma Regional Council . On 5 November 2012 that council was split into two new councils, Neve Midbar Regional Council and al-Kasom Regional Council . The Netherlands has had regular periods with unincorporated land when newly reclaimed land polders fall dry. Unincorporated land is since medieval times administered by an appointed officer with

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6820-426: The area is not very accessible by car. The driving time from San Rafael is roughly 52 minutes, and it takes over an hour to drive to downtown San Francisco. Bolinas lies west of the San Andreas Fault , which runs the length of Bolinas Lagoon and continues northward through Olema Valley and Tomales Bay . Bolinas and the Point Reyes peninsula are on the Pacific Plate , moving north relative to Stinson Beach and

6930-432: The city. The California Government Code allows cities to call themselves towns, if they wish, although the designation is purely cosmetic. In the context of the insular areas of the United States, the word "unincorporated" refers to territories in which the United States Congress has determined that only selected parts of the Constitution of the United States apply and which have not been formally incorporated into

7040-403: The concept of an unincorporated area. Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71,028-acre (287.44 km ) park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California . As a national seashore , it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue within

7150-466: The convergence of two marine ecological provinces (southern Oregonian and northern Californian) and harbors 45% of North America's bird species and 18% of California's plant species. The National Seashore's 100 miles (160 km) of coastline include estuaries, bays and lagoons which provide rich habitats including subtidal seagrasses, tidal mudflats and marshes that support a rich diversity of wildlife. There are at least 42 rare and endangered plants of

7260-444: The council of Municipal District or Specialized Municipality within their boundaries, or by the Minister of Municipal Affairs within the boundaries of an Improvement District. For example, were they incorporated, the urban service areas of Fort McMurray in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and Sherwood Park in Strathcona County would be the fifth- and sixth-largest cities in Alberta. Unincorporated settlements with

7370-426: The county government estimates the population of its unincorporated areas to exceed one million people. Despite having 88 incorporated cities and towns, including the state's most populous, 65% of the land in Los Angeles County is unincorporated, this mostly consisting of Angeles National Forest and sparsely populated regions to its north. In California, the state constitution recognizes only one kind of municipality,

7480-609: The county level. In mid-Atlantic states such as New York and Pennsylvania, a hybrid model that tries to balance the two approaches is prevalent, with differing allocations of power between municipalities and counties existing. Throughout the U.S., some large cities have annexed all surrounding unincorporated areas within their counties, creating what are known as consolidated city–county forms of government (e.g., Jacksonville, Florida , and Nashville, Tennessee ). In these cases, unincorporated areas continue to exist in other counties of their respective metropolitan areas. Conversely,

7590-428: The efficiency of their system, not to recognize jurisdictional boundaries." The USPS is very conservative about recognizing new place names for use in mailing addresses and typically only does so when a place incorporates. The original place name associated with a ZIP Code is still maintained as the default place name, even though the name of the newly incorporated place is more accurate. As an example, Sandy Springs

7700-498: The entire area was declared protected cultural heritage. Population of less than 100. Statistics Denmark groups it with Bornholm in Landsdel Bornholm . Since Germany has no administrative level comparable to the townships of other countries, the vast majority of the country, close to 99%, is organized in municipalities ( German : Gemeinde , plural Gemeinden ), often consisting of multiple settlements that are not considered to be unincorporated. Because these settlements lack

7810-431: The entities themselves. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Virginia "strong county" model. Virginia and other states with this model, such as Alabama , Maryland , and Tennessee , set strict requirements on incorporation or grant counties broad powers that in other states are carried out by cities, creating a disincentive to incorporate, and thus have large urbanized areas which have no municipal government below

7920-424: The farm's owner to give him the news. The oyster farm closure was challenged in U.S. District Court on January 25, 2013. The challenge was rejected by a federal court judge, who ruled that the law gave Salazar unfettered discretion to approve or deny a renewal of the permit. The California Coastal Commission voted on February 7, 2013 to unanimously approve cease and desist and restoration orders for violations of

8030-785: The first in its series of "Tom Sawyer Towns... a good place for boys and girls to live and grow... its school days, its summer vacations, its vast adventures in fishing, swimming, baseball, basking and dreaming in the sun. Such a place is Bolinas." Bolinas is unincorporated, receiving general government services from Marin County , including law enforcement, land use planning, public health, and code enforcement. Two special districts provide local services. The Bolinas Community Public Utility District provides water and wastewater service and contracts for garbage and recycling collection. The Bolinas Fire Protection District provides fire protection, emergency medical care, and disaster management services. In 1967,

8140-408: The first years, the soil is equivalent to quicksand . During the initial period of inhabitation, a special, government-appointed officer was installed, the landdrost . During the administrative office of a Landdrost , no municipal council forms. In 1975, the first homes in what is now the city of Almere were built, and from 1976 to 1984, the area was governed by the Landdrost as the executive of

8250-484: The forest may nevertheless be a result of European settlement. The Coast Miwok people who once lived in the area set frequent fires to clear brush and increase game animal populations, and early explorers' accounts describe the hills as bare and grassy. But as the Native American settlements were replaced by European ones from the seventeenth century onward, the forests expanded as fire frequency decreased, resulting in

8360-472: The forests we see today. The Bishop pine ( Pinus muricata ) forest is found on slopes in the northern half of the park. Many of these trees growing in thick swaths came from seeds released after the 1995 Mt. Vision fire. The bishop pines of the Phillip Burton Wilderness are considered an intermediate between the northern variety ( Pinus muricata v. borealis ) and the southern ( Pinus muricata v. muricata ). The Monterey cypress ( Callitropsis macrocarpa ),

8470-487: The high point of Mount Wittenberg . The four trailcamps are in this section, with Wildcat and Coast camps located near shore, and Sky and Glen camps inland. Each camp has a different number of individual sites, with 52 sites total and four group sites. The central section, which is separated from the southeastern unit by Limantour Road, protects the crest of the Inverness Ridge, the east shore of Estero de Limantour and

8580-401: The immediate coast; northern coastal prairie , found on a narrow strip just inland from the coastal strand that includes some native grasses; coastal rangeland, the area still grazed by the cattle from the peninsula's remaining working ranches; northern coastal scrub , dominated by coyote bush ( Baccharis pilularis ); and the intertidal and subtidal plant communities. Point Reyes is home to

8690-521: The largest amount of land under that status: 39,785 square miles (103,042 km ), or 52.4% of the state's land area. North Dakota followed with 86 territories, 20,358 square miles (52,728 km ), or 29.5% of its land area. Maine was next with 36 territories, 14,052 square miles (36,396 km ), or 45.5% of its land area. Minnesota had 71 territories, 10,552 square miles (27,330 km ), or 13% of its land area. Several other states had small amounts of unorganized territory. The unorganized territory with

8800-445: The largest population was Camp Lejeune, North Carolina , a United States Marine Corps base with a census population of 34,452 inhabitants. In the 2010 census , unorganized territory areas were identified in nine U.S. states: Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Many unincorporated communities are also recognized as acceptable place names for use in mailing addresses by

8910-427: The largest unincorporated areas in Germany (including all inhabited areas, but excluding lakes) with an area of more than 50 km (19 sq mi): In Bavaria, there are other contiguous unincorporated areas covering an area of more than 50 km (19 sq mi) which are however composed of several adjacent unincorporated areas, each one of which is under 50 km in area. In Israel, almost all land

9020-778: The like. As of 31 December 2007 , Germany had 248 uninhabited unincorporated areas (of which 214 are located in Bavaria ), not belonging to any municipality, consisting mostly of forested areas, lakes, and larger rivers. Also, three inhabited unincorporated areas exist, all of which served as military training areas : Osterheide and Lohheide in Lower Saxony, and Gutsbezirk Münsingen in Baden-Württemberg . They have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants in total. Gutsbezirk Münsingen has become uninhabited after losing its inhabited parts to adjacent municipalities on 1 January 2011. The following shows

9130-520: The limited capacity of the sewage collection system. Many lots, especially on the Big Mesa, remain undeveloped. In 2003, Bolinas voters adopted Measure G, authored by Bolinas artist Jane "Dakar" Blethen. The advisory measure called for the following language to be adopted as a policy of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District: Vote for Bolinas to be a socially acknowledged nature-loving town because to like to drink

9240-599: The more than 850 plant species identified. Almost 40 species of land mammals plus a dozen marine mammals such as the harbor seal live or migrate through this area. Bird species counts are well over 400. It is part of the Golden Gate Biosphere Network , recognized in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves . The northernmost part of the peninsula is maintained as a reserve for tule elk ( Cervus canadensis nannodes ), an elk subspecies historically native to

9350-458: The name Landdrost or Drossaart . Also, Elten and Tudderen , both annexed from Germany after World War II , were governed by a Landdrost until they were ceded back to Germany in 1963. The most recent period with unincorporated land started in 1967, when the dyke around Southern Flevoland was closed, but several years are required before the polder is genuinely accessible for cultivation, and construction of roads and homes can start, as in

9460-529: The occupied units 57.4% were owner-occupied and 42.6% were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. 54.1% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34.3% lived in rental housing units. At the 2000 census there were 1,246 people in 486 households, including 260 families, in the CDP. The population density was 900.6 inhabitants per square mile (347.7/km). There were 629 housing units at an average density of 454.7 per square mile (175.6/km). The racial makeup of

9570-601: The only known population of the endangered Sonoma spineflower, Chorizanthe valida . The park has 28,000 acres (11,000 ha) of dairy and beef cattle ranching. Extremely high levels of fecal coliform bacteria ( Escherichia coli ) concentrations have been documented in streams adjacent to existing dairy operations. Cattle manure spreading areas are correlated with the increased presence of invasive and noxious weed species. Tomales Bay, Drakes Estero and Abbotts Lagoon are all affected by E. coli discharges from cattle operations in rainy winter months. A joint inspection in 2022 by

9680-400: The other island groups are not part of any administrative region or district , but are instead each designated as an Area Outside Territorial Authority . In Norway, the outlying islands of Bouvet Island , Jan Mayen , and Svalbard are outside of all of the country's counties and municipalities . They are ruled directly by national authorities without any local democracy. An exception

9790-563: The park was purchased to continue these historic uses. Other parts are under the jurisdiction of other conservation authorities with the National Park Service providing signage and managing visitor impact on the entire peninsula and Tomales Bay. The Seashore also administers the parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation area, such as the Olema Valley, that are adjacent to the Seashore. Point Reyes National Seashore lies at

9900-409: The park. Clem Miller , a US Congressman from Marin County , wrote and introduced the bill for the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from development which was proposed at the time for the slopes above Drake's Bay. About half of the national seashore is protected as wilderness. The Point Reyes peninsula is a well defined area, geologically separated from

10010-472: The peninsula, provides most services to it. Some services are also available at Inverness on the west shore of Tomales Bay. The small town of Olema , about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Point Reyes Station, serves as the gateway to the Seashore and its visitor center. The peninsula includes wild coastal beaches and headlands, estuaries, and uplands. Parts of the park are private farms and ranches which have commercial cattle grazing. These were leased back when

10120-583: The population lived in households and 11.6% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 698 households, 144 (20.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 259 (37.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 54 (7.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 32 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 49 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and nine (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . There were 280 households (40.1%) made up of individuals, and 98 (14.0%) had someone living alone who

10230-454: The province, an unincorporated settlement is one that does not have a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a larger municipal government. These range from small hamlets to large urbanized areas similar in size to a town or city. In Alberta , unincorporated communities can be classified as Hamlet, Locality or townsite. A Hamlet is an unincorporated community that can be designated by

10340-511: The provinces of Chubut , Córdoba , Entre Ríos , Formosa , Neuquén , Río Negro , San Luis , Santa Cruz , Santiago del Estero , Tierra del Fuego , and Tucumán have areas that are outside any municipality or commune. Unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. A local government area (LGA) often contains several towns and even entire metropolitan areas. Thus, aside from very sparsely populated areas and

10450-506: The region. Elk are readily seen there. Although they had been completely extirpated from Point Reyes by the nineteenth century, in 1978, ten tule elk were reintroduced to Point Reyes from the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge near Los Banos . By 2009, the population climbed to over 440 elk at Tomales Point 's 2,600 acres (1,100 ha) of coastal scrub and grasslands . In 1999, 100 elk from Tomales Point were moved to

10560-613: The rest of Marin County and almost all of the continental United States by a rift zone of the San Andreas Fault , about half of which is sunk below sea level and forms Tomales Bay . The peninsula is part of the Salinian Block while across the fault is the Franciscan Complex ; the difference in soil composition affects the mix of flora on either side of the fault. The small town of Point Reyes Station , while not located on

10670-484: The same powers in these areas as city councils or town councils have in their respective incorporated areas. Some states instead put these powers in the hands of townships, which are minor civil divisions of each county and are called "towns" in some states. Differences in state laws regarding the incorporation of communities leads to a great variation in the distribution and nature of unincorporated areas. Unincorporated regions are essentially nonexistent in eight of

10780-458: The seals from the edge of the parking lot began the following month after the shutdown ended. Docents help keep the public safe during the winter months as the colony continues to grow each year. Point Reyes lies within the California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion . The Point Reyes area has more than 50 species of rare, threatened or endangered plants. Perennial wildflowers include

10890-474: The site in 1858 to transport supplies and produce across the bay. The location was settled by the Felix family around 1861, a family of Filipino and Miwok heritage. After the descendants of the Felix family left in 1955, the land was zoned for development, then made part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, before becoming home to artist Clayton Lewis . In 2015, structures built by the Felix family were placed on

11000-560: The territory cannot be disincorporated . The United States Minor Outlying Islands without a permanent civilian population are "unorganized" in the sense that they do not have a local government, and they are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs directly. The populated American Samoa is "unorganized" in the sense that Congress has not passed an organic act , but it does have a constitution and locally elected territorial legislature and executive. An unincorporated community may be part of

11110-454: The water out of the lakes to like to eat the blueberries to like the bears is not hatred to hotels and motor boats. Dakar. Temporary and way to save life, skunks and foxes (airplanes to go over the ocean) and to make it beautiful. Besides the public access beach near the downtown area, there is a county park , Agate Beach, which contains extensive tide pools that are protected as part of the Gulf of

11220-467: The west with the Bear Valley trail head upward toward Mount Wittenberg, at 1,407 feet (429 m), the highest point in the park. The Earthquake Trail, a 0.6-mile (0.97 km) loop that runs over the San Andreas Fault . The trail provides descriptions of the fault and the surrounding geology, and features a fence that was pulled 18 feet (5.5 m) apart during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . At

11330-535: The western end of the Point Reyes Peninsula is the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse, reached by descending 308 steps. Unlike many lighthouses, that were built high so the light could be seen by ships far out to sea, the Point Reyes lighthouse was built low to get the light below the fog that is so prevalent in the area. Nearby is the short Chimney Rock hike, which is noted for its spring wildflower displays. Point Reyes offers several beach walks. Limantour Spit winds up on

11440-662: The wilderness after him (P.L. 99-68). It is one of only three designated wilderness areas along the California coast, the others being the King Range Wilderness and the Rocks and Islands Wilderness . There are three separate sections: The southeastern area protects the Inverness Ridge down to a long coastline and is the largest unit. Within this area are forests of Douglas fir and California buckeye , coastal foothills, terraces, caves, beaches, several small inland lakes and

11550-570: The yellow larkspur ( Delphinium luteum ), federally listed as endangered, and state listed as rare since 1979. It has yellow flowers that bloom from March through May, grows in plant communities of coastal scrub, and is extremely poisonous (major toxicity class 1 ). Rare grasses include the endemic Sonoma shortawn foxtail ( Alopecurus aequalis var. sonomensis ) in the family Poaceae , federally listed as endangered since 1997. The California Native Plant Society lists this subspecies population as seriously endangered, and that more taxonomic information

11660-476: Was $ 53,188 and the median family income was $ 56,111. Males had a median income of $ 48,281 versus $ 40,417 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $ 28,973. About 5.5% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 2.8 percent of those age 65 or over. The much larger area defined by the Census Bureau as Zip Code Tabulation Area 94924, which includes Horseshoe Hill, Dogtown , and Five Brooks, had

11770-579: Was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.05. There were 345 families (49.4 % of all households); the average family size was 2.65. The age distribution was 234 people (14.4%) under the age of 18, 76 people (4.7%) aged 18 to 24, 385 people (23.8%) aged 25 to 44, 642 people (39.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 283 people (17.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 49.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 115.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.6 males. There were 986 housing units at an average density of 169.2 per square mile, of

11880-406: Was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.87. The age distribution was 21.0% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 40.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.1 males. The median household income

11990-501: Was informed by the NPS at the time of purchase that their permit to operate would not be renewed beyond the November 30, 2012 expiration date. A federal law enacted in 2009 authorized, but did not require, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to renew the permit. The NPS and conservation groups viewed the farm as an inappropriate and environmentally-insensitive use of the estero, which was designated

12100-580: Was located in Drakes Estero until, under court order, it closed down at end of 2014. Court appeals to keep the operation in place were dropped in December, 2014. The farm was purchased by the National Park Service in 1972, and the agency issued a permit to allow the previous owner to continue operations for 40 years. The business was sold to a new owner in 2004, the Drakes Bay Oyster Company , who

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