David Allen Gaines (December 30, 1947 – January 11, 1988) was an American environmentalist and the founder of the Mono Lake Committee.
[1] The Mono Lake Committee (along with the Audubon Society) initiated a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to reduce or stop the water diversions that were lowering Mono Lake; Gaines' approach in the lawsuit was to work with the opposition instead of demonizing them.
Based on research in the Mono Basin, Gaines co-wrote a chapter in the book California Riparian Systems.
As a collaborative team, The Mono Lake Committee took a stand against LADWP.
On January 11, 1988, less than two weeks after his 40th birthday, Gaines died in a car accident during a snowstorm on Highway 395 at the base of Crestview Summit, approximately halfway between Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes.