By Jim Reece - Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field will be among the local, regional and international experts at a Smart Growth Conference October 9th and 10th in Tuolumne County . Lieutenant Governor John Garemendi will be keynote speaker at the event’s gala dinner. Field will be one of five program presenters, and will talk about his work in Amador County , coordinating a multi-county “Blueprint.” Field will explain how he uses the Blueprint to integrate transportation, land usage and housing planning. Steve Frisch, executive director of the Sierra Business Council, will present a program on “demographic challenges and the need for smart growth in the foothills.” Frisch will also review three kinds of capital: social, financial and natural. Steve Wilensky, chairman and district 2 supervisor for the Calaveras County Board of Directors, will give a program on “moving forward to build a viable community and how to bring sometimes opposing factions together for common goals.” Patrick Lucey, senior aquatic ecologist with Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting, will come from Canada to talk about “watershed-sensitive urban planning, design and implementation.” Lucey is collaborating with the Schwarzenegger Administration on California watershed issues. Garamendi, born and raised in Calaveras County , owns the “Touch The Earth” working cattle ranch near San Andeas. In a release, Garamendi said “Smart growth is healthy, well-managed growth with the intent to better serve the goals of the communities.” The conference with touch on smart growth in historic towns, with a presentation by Autumn Bernstein, of Climate Plan, a group of California organizations that came together to “educate decision makers about global warming and land use.” Rudy Ortega will discuss his successful Murphys project and the “new-urbanist” center in Copperopolis.