Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
As a driving force, Marston secured the preservation of Borrego Palm Canyon with the acquisition of 2,320 acres, Another 5,500 acres was acquired and donated to the state by the San Diego County State Parks Committee, of which he was a member. Today the park preserves more than 600,000 acres.

Emerging early from the different park advocacy groups were three men who would lead the struggle to create Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Most prominent among them was George White Marston, a businessman, political reformer, and philanthropist as well as an early leader in the state park movement. In addition to being San Diego's leading preservationist, park builder, and city planning advocate, he was a member of the California State Parks Council, a twenty-member group that had directed the 1928 state park bond campaign and subsequent park survey. Because of his enormous prestige, the seventy-seven-year-old Marston was chosen to head the early meetings of the Parks and Beaches group and led the effort to consolidate all of the state park organizations in the county. Like most post-war progressives, Marston favored cooperation over confrontation and volunteerism (where possible) over government action. In addition, he reflected both conservationist and preservationist ideals regarding parks. These values were in tune with the state-wide leadership in the state parks movement. Marston's personal involvement and considerable wealth would be the key to the initial establishment of Anza-Borrego - Gregg K. Hennessey historian, and author of The Creation Of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, 1999

Photo by Sandé Lollis