Sierra Club supports HR 2735

by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair

The Chapter is delighted to report that on our recommendation the Sierra Club has endorsed HR 2735, a measure directing that additional penalties be established for environmental damage caused in the course of the “unlawful production of a controlled substance on Federal property or intentional trespass on the property of another”.

As detailed in the bill’s findings, large scale illegal marijuana cultivation has been found to cause immense damage to wildlands, water sources, and wildlife habitat in many places in California and in at least 19 other states from Virginia to Hawaii. News sources have reported that California’s biggest cash crop may be marijuana, with by far the largest portion being grown illegally under the management of large-scale foreign drug trafficking operations. This illegal cultivation takes place primarily on federal lands managed by the National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, but other federal, state, and local public lands are also affected, as are private lands that have been taken over without the knowledge or consent of the rightful owner. The adverse effects of these activities include the destruction of large expanses of natural vegetation, the diversion of natural water sources, and the pollution of entire watersheds with dangerous pesticides and fertilizers, some of them so toxic that their use is not allowed in the United States under any circumstances. Wildlife habitat is degraded, and many kinds of animals systematically slaughtered to protect the crop. Even after the growing season ends, harm continues from massive amounts of equipment, trash, and human waste that are left on site post-harvest. In addition, heavily armed growers pose a danger to hikers, campers, and other persons who use federal and state lands.

HR 2735 (which is sponsored by North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman and co-sponsored by Congressmen Mike Thompson, Doug LaMalfa, and Doug Lamborn) explicitly recognizes the existence and severity of this problem, and directs the Sentencing Commission to amend its Guidelines to impose additional penalties when environmental damage takes place. The hope is that extended sentences will act as a deterrent, but whether or not this happens the inclusion of a detailed description of the environmental consequences in federal statute may help shift the lines of discourse on a complex and tricky subject.

Here in Redwood Chapter, which contains the so-called “Emerald Triangle” counties of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Lake, we know all about this problem.  A recent letter expressing support for HR 2735 was signed by nearly every environmental organization in northwestern California—except the Sierra Club. Now the Chapter and other affected local entities in California are free to do anything we can to promote its passage — and so we shall.

 

 

 

ACTION ALERT: ask Senator Feinstein to support the Berryessa Snow Mt NCA

by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair

As previously mentioned, in July the House Public Lands and Environmental Regulation subcommittee held a hearing on the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act (H.R. 1025). This important landscape-level conservation proposal, which has the strong support of the Redwood Chapter, would permanently protect 350,000 acres of federal public lands with outstanding conservation values, set up a structure to improve collaborative management among affected agencies, enhance recreational potential, and benefit the visitor-based economy.

H.R. 1025 is co-sponsored by all three members of Redwood Chapter’s Congressional delegation and covers land managed by three federal agencies in five counties, including three Wilderness areas and a state Wild and Scenic River. 

There’s no predicting when a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives may occur, but in the meantime we need your help to push the proposal along in the Senate.

Senator Barbara Boxer has introduced companion legislation, S. 483, but unfortunately Senator Dianne Feinstein has still not become a co-sponsor, and without her support S. 483 stands no chance of getting a hearing.

Won’t you please take a moment to send her a letter telling her what you love about the region and the reasons it merits protection? Letters should be sent to Honorable Dianne Feinstein, 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510. Your own words are always strongest, but you are welcome to get started by copying and pasting the sample letter below. After you send your letter, please send a copy via email to vbrandon@lakelive.info.

For additional information about the proposed NCA, visit berryessasnowmountain.org.

And thanks so much for your help!

==============================
Sample Letter:
[INSERT DATE]
Honorable Dianne Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
 
Re:  Co-sponsoring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act

Dear Senator Feinstein:
As a resident of [TOWN AND STATE], I am writing to encourage you to co-sponsor S. 483, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act.

The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act would protect 350,000 acres of federal public lands in Yolo, Napa, Lake, Solano, and Mendocino counties. These lands provide habitat for a wide array of plants and animals, and support outstanding opportunities for hiking, camping, biking, and rafting, within a short drive of my town.

Designating this area as a national conservation area will provide well-managed recreation opportunities and safeguard the area’s natural beauty.

[INSERT WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT THE REGION AND WHY IT SHOULD BE PROTECTED]

I urge you to support efforts to establish the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area by co-sponsoring S. 483, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]

Mendocino BOS Decides for the Dunes and the Plover

by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair

We are delighted to be able to report that on Monday August 26 the Mendocino Board of Supervisors approved the MacKerricher Dunes Rehabilitation Project, as advocated by a number of local environmental organizations including the Sierra Club Mendocino Group.

The Inglenook Fen-Ten Mile Dunes Natural Preserve in Mackerricher State Park contains coastal dune and wetland habitats that support many special plant and animal species, and provide habitat for resident and migrating shorebirds. The Project intends to restore natural processes in the Preserve, which  was set aside in 1995 expressly “to preserve such features as rare or endangered plant and animal species and their supporting ecosystem,” by removing 2.7 miles of an old logging road through the dunes and along the beach, and by grubbing out invasive European Beach Grass.

After completing CEQA review, the Parks Department received a Coastal Development Permit from the County and was set to move forward until the Westport Municipal Advisory Council filed an appeal with the Board of Supervisors, arguing that removal of the old road would have negative impacts on public access and recreation.

As stated by Mendocino Group Executive Committee member Linda Perkins, “the value of these few remaining natural dune areas, home to rare plants and nesting habitat for the endangered snowy plover, far outweighs the relatively low level of recreational use of this segment, limited as it is by having been partly covered by sand and by having a large chunk washed out by the ocean. In addition, the segment to be removed is separated by almost a mile from the popular hiking and biking haul road that runs through MacKerricher State Park from Ward Avenue to Pudding Creek and that will not be affected by the project.” For additional information on the project, see the comment letter posted to the Mendocino Group website, redwood.sierraclub.org/mendocino.

This was a great victory, but please stay tuned: the Westport MAC has ten days to appeal the BOS decision to the Coastal Commission. Although it’s highly unlikely that the CC would overturn such an environmentally beneficial ruling by local government, the Chapter is standing ready to weigh in on the side of the County, the dunes and the snowy plover.

Red Letter Week for Conservation

by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair

This has been a truly remarkable week for conservation here on the North Coast. The first big event came on the evening of Monday July 22, when Congressman Jared Huffman’s first-ever piece of federal legislation passed the House. HR 1411 would add the 1,255-acre BLM-managed Stornetta Public Lands on the Mendocino Coast to the Coastal National Monument and tap into mitigation funding from the Gulf Coast oil spill to acquire an additional keystone parcel that will allow creation of a 10-mile coastal trail from the town of Point Arena to Manchester Beach.

This spectacularly beautiful land includes many dramatic coastal features and is a famous pupping location for seals as well as providing habitat for several endangered species. The bill maintains current recreational, ranching and research uses and will boost the regional economy with an increase in tourism, the area’s largest employer. With no known opposition, passage would not ordinarily be remarkable, but these are not ordinary times: this bill is the very first public lands preservation legislation to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in more than three years, so can be seen as a tribute to the adept political skills of our freshman Congressman. It moves on to the Senate next, where easy passage is expected.

 

Then on Tuesday July 23 the House Public Lands and Environmental Regulation subcommittee held a hearing on the proposed Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act (H.R. 1025), an important landscape-level conservation proposal that would permanently protect 350,000 acres of federal public lands with outstanding conservation values.  The bill, which is co-sponsored by all three members of Redwood Chapter’s congressional delegation (Congressmen Mike Thompson, John Garamendi, and Jared Huffman) covers land managed by three federal agencies in five counties,  including three Wilderness areas and a state Wild and Scenic River. Along with Congressmen Thompson and Garamendi, Napa county cattle rancher Judy Ahmann testified in its support. The hearing has been posted at http://naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=342550

 

In the meantime, the Chapter has been watching with dismay as pressure on the over-allocated waters of the Klamath River system continue to mount. Large returns of fall Chinook salmon are expected again this year (a Good Thing), but if these spawning fish encounter low flows and warm algae laden water a fish kill on the scale of the one that occurred in 2002 is all too possible. Releases of Trinity River water offer the best chance of averting this catastrophe, so we were heartened to see a letter from Congressmen Thompson, Huffman, and George Miller to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell advocating this course of action. This excellent letter is also available on line at http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_23698708/plea-interior-department-prevent-fish-kill-trinity-klamath?source=rss

 

 

ACTION ALERT: Tar Sands in Benicia? – without an EIR!

by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair

On Monday Sierra Club entities including Redwood Chapter joined representatives of other environmental organizations to express concern to the City of Benicia about the proposed Valero Crude-by-Rail Project. This proposed rail terminal could significantly impact the Suisun Marsh, emergency response time, traffic, and noise, and might also lead to increased supplies of very high-sulfur, low-quality crude oil from Canada’s tar sands winding up at Valero’s Benicia Refinery – with predictably negative effects on Bay Area air quality!

The city intends to base project approvals on a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) that was issued on May 31. This level of review is totally inadequate for a project with such great potential to harm air quality, public health, public safety, and the ecology of the area, with risks not only to residents of Benicia but also to the entire region. At the very minimum, a full Environmental Impact Report must be undertaken before allowing this project to forward.  For a detailed evaluation of the failings of the MND, see the comment letter pasted below.

Benicia residents who want to find out more about the project are invited to attend “Crude Consensus,” a community meeting to be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday July 9 at the Benicia Community Center, 370 East L Street, where the Natural Resources Defense Council will present expert research findings on potential environmental impacts, including local air pollution. Join the Benicia Good Neighbor Steering Committee and the NRDC to learn more about risks to local residents, and ways to participate in the City’s evaluation of the project. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

RSVP at http://bit.ly/10rNGvP so we know how many to expect

Share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/559431820765446/

Then on July 11 everyone in the region who has concerns about this project is encouraged to “Stand with Benicia” by attending the regular meeting of the Benicia Planning Commission, which will hold a formal hearing on the Crude-by-Rail project at 7.00 p.m. on Thursday July 11 at Benicia City Hall, 250 East L Street. The Commissioners are being asked to assess the project’s potential effects on the environment, WITHOUT the information that only a full Environmental Impact Report can provide. Stand up for Benicia by commenting on the record during the meeting, and be sure to request that an EIR be conducted.

Share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/138622026337007

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The comments below were submitted to the City of Benicia on July 1, 2013

Re: Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Valero Crude by Rail Project 

We, the undersigned, are writing to you on behalf of our organizations and our many thousands of members to express concern over the potential for grave environmental and public health impacts of the proposed Valero Crude by Rail Project, for which a proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) was issued on May 31st, 2013. The MND for this project is seriously deficient in its environmental analysis in many regards, including adverse impacts to air quality, public health, public safety, noise, general hazards and ecological risks, not only to residents of Benicia but also to the entire San Francisco Bay Area.  At a minimum, a full Environmental Impact Review must be performed before this project can move forward.

The MND fails to address potentially significant air pollution and other impacts caused by refining additional amounts of lower quality crude oil—including from the Canadian tar sands—that could be facilitated by the project. Valero has been clear about its intentions to increase Western Canadian crude oil imports into its California refineries in remarks to investors, and independent market research confirms that the proposed Benicia facility is likely to facilitate imports of significant volumes of tar sands crude blends.   The probability of the project facilitating additional, lower quality crude supplies and the resulting impacts on air quality and public health are not discussed or evaluated in the MND. 

Refining increased volumes of the Western Canadian diluted bitumen products, which the proposed facility would make feasible, presents unique and significant  air quality, public health, safety and ecological and water quality impacts.  The following impacts would far exceed the impacts of conventional crude oil feedstocks:

1. The “diluent” used to make heavy “bitumen” or tar sands flow into and out of railcars contains highly volatile organic chemicals, including extremely toxic ones like benzene, at much higher concentrations than conventional crude oil; and is likely to be released during transport and refining.
2. The heavy bitumen component of the tar sands oil contains many toxic constituents including heavy metals such as lead at much higher concentrations than conventional crude oil and which are likely to be released during the refining process.
3. The heavy bitumen is also much more energy intensive to refine than conventional crude.  Due to the composition of heavier, longer chain hydrocarbons, these denser crude oils require greater use of heaters, boilers, hydro-treating and cracking and greater hydrogen use, all of which creates greater emissions of smog- and soot-forming pollutants and toxic chemicals.
4. Dilbits are associated with greater levels of strong odors due to their composition including a variety of sulfur containing compounds, such as mercaptans, at higher levels.
5. Refining of heavy bitumen or tar sands leads to increased coke production, which in itself is a hazardous compound leading to storage and disposal issues including the potential for coke dust from storage piles to impact nearby residents, as has been documented near the Marathon refinery in Detroit, Michigan.
6. Dilbits are more corrosive than conventional crude oil, increasing the risk of refinery accidents similar to the August 6, 2012 fire at Chevron Richmond, for which lower quality crude oil was found to be a contributing factor.
7. Rail car spills of dilbit would be catastrophic to the fragile San Francisco Bay Delta.  This is because the diluent – typically natural gas condensates acting as a solvent – helps the oil spread on surface waters. The diluent typically evaporates leaving the very heavy bitumen to sink, creating an exceptionally difficult and expensive clean-up.  This was found to be the case in Kalamazoo, Michigan after a 2010 pipeline ruptured, releasing bitumen and causing well documented and widespread public health impacts and lasting contamination to this day (three years later).

The MND also fails to fully consider the noise impacts of this project, which will bring four 50-car trains to the refinery each day, with operations predominantly at night but potentially at all hours (“24 hours per day/7 days per week/365 days per year”). In addition to noise impacts, the additional half hour each day of blocked access due to trains crossing the Park Road intersection would be a nuisance and potentially a safety issue to the nearby community.  A grade separation should be evaluated as potential mitigation. The analysis fails to consider the horns and noise of the four additional trains going through at-grade crossings, particularly at night when most of the activity is expected. Noise has been associated with many health impacts such as heart disease and stroke, as well as worsening children’s mental health, concentration, and classroom behavior at school. An Environmental Impact Review must gauge existing levels of refinery noise and related communication interference, sleep interference or physiological responses; and predict future levels associated with the Project.    Finally, we note that with respect to the level of rail service proposed here (4 50-car trains per day), the City of Benicia needs to demonstrate that it has the authority to impose and fully enforce such a limit consistently with federal law.

Due to all of the serious potential impacts from the Valero Crude by Rail project listed here, the lack of sufficient information to properly evaluate the project and the potential for serious and irreversible harm to the greater San Francisco Bay Area caused by the import of exceptionally toxic substances through this Project, we urge the City of Benicia to perform a thorough Environmental Impact Review evaluating these impacts and all appropriate mitigation options, before proceeding.  The significant environmental impacts of this proposed project must be fully mitigated before it can be approved. We hereby reference the detailed and expert comments submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council on July 1, 2013; and strongly urge your consideration of our concerns.         

Sincerely,        

• Greg Karras, Senior Scientist, Communities for a Better Environment
• Denny Larson, Executive Director, Global Community Monitor
• Michael Marx, Director, Beyond Oil Campaign, Sierra Club
• Edward A. Mainland, Co-Chair, Energy-Climate Committee, Sierra Club California
• Michelle Myers, Director, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter
• Victoria Brandon, Chair, Sierra Club Redwood Chapter
• David W. Campbell, Secretary-Treasurer, United Steelworkers Local 675
• David Schonbrunn, President, Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund
• Azibuike Akaba, Policy Analyst,             Regional Asthma Management & Prevention
• Jill Ratner, President, Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment
• Jess Dervin-Ackerman, Chair,  350 Bay Area

Club Supports Conservation of “Preservation Ranch” property

Here’s a letter from the Sonoma County Water Coalition to CalPers, expressing support for its sale of the 20,000 acre Preservation Ranch property to a consortium of conservation buyers.  Redwood Chapter’s Sonoma Group has signed on with great enthusiasm.

Joseph Dear, Chief Investment Officer, CalPERS
Dear Mr Dear:

SUBJECT: Sonoma County Water Coalition support for a Conservation Forestry Sale of Preservation Ranch Lands

We wrote to you almost exactly one year ago requesting that CalPERS work cooperatively with The Conservation Fund to protect the coastal forest lands on the property known as Preservation Ranch for its forest and watershed values. You responded two weeks later.
We at the Sonoma County Water Coalition are now writing to express our gratitude to you for preserving Preservation Ranch.

The arrangements worked out between CalPERS, The Conservation Fund, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District and Sonoma Land Trust are exactly what we had in mind when we sent our letter to you.

The conservation purchase of these lands will provide a coastal buffer for wildlife in the uncertainties of climate change. It will also avoid the necessity for Sonoma County to build expensive infrastructure, such as roads and access for fire protection and other emergency services, into this part of our County. In addition, conservation of these lands will avoid placing an additional burden upon the water resources of this area.

Preservation Ranch will now join forest conservation purchases in the Gualala River and neighboring Garcia River watersheds, creating many thousands of acres of working forest landscape while also providing jobs in sustainable forestry to the region’s residents. This land use model protects the contiguity of forest landscapes leading to a greater long term ecological and economic stability of sustainably managed forest lands.

This outcome maximizes the mutual benefit of CalPERS investment portfolio performance while assuring the great public benefit of conserving forest lands of  California, demonstrating an investment strategy that is aligned with 21st century considerations, not the least of which is climate change and economic uncertainty.

We greatly appreciated your prompt, proactive and fruitful attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Sonoma County Water Coalition

Members: * Atascadero/Green Valley Watershed Council * Community Clean Water Institute * Friends of Mark West Watershed * California River Watch * O.W.L. Foundation * Russian River Watershed Protection Committee* Sonoma Coast Surfrider * Sonoma County Conservation Action * SWiG (Sebastopol Water information Group) * Valley of the Moon Alliance * Supporting Organizations: Bellevue Township * Coalition for a Better Sonoma County * Coast Action Group * Community Alliance with Family Farmers (N.Coast Chapter) * Forest Unlimited * Forestville Citizens for Sensible Growth * Friends of the Eel River * Friends of the Gualala River * Graton Community Projects * Laguna Lovers * League of Women Voters of Sonoma County * Madrone Audubon Society * New-Old Ways Wholistically Emerging * Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Water Institute * Petaluma River Council * Russian River Chamber of Commerce * Sierra Club (Sonoma County Group) * Town Hall Coalition * Western Sonoma County Rural Alliance *

Sierra Club supports Klamath Basin habitat

The Sierra Club has played an instrumental role in crafting a position paper on Klamath River issues that was entered into the record of a Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee hearing  held on June 20, 2013. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden chairs the committee. The letter, which was co-signed by seven other environmental organizations, proposes five key elements to address the chronic water crisis in the Klamath Basin, and the damage being done to some of America’s most important National Wildlife Refuges:

• Ensure basic survival water levels for the refuges
• Phase out private lease-land agriculture
• Bring demand for water back into balance with supply
• Implement management recommendations based on the best available science
• Reconsider dam removal through the federal relicensing process.

The complete letter, which is impassioned, detailed, and authoritative, can be downloaded from lakelive.info/Klamath.ltr.6.20.13.pdf

Sierra Club supports ESA listing for hitch

On June 14 Redwood Chapter’s Lake Group submitted comments to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife  expressing strong support for the proposed listing of the Clear Lake hitch (lavinia exilicauda chi) under the state endangered species act. The hitch, which is endemic to Clear Lake and one of the few native fish remaining in the lake, used to be found in enormous numbers but has experienced dramatic population declines in recent years.

The Lake Group letter is quoted below.

“The Sierra Club Lake Group represents some 400 Sierra Club members living in Lake County, and is a branch of the 9,000-member Redwood Chapter.  Preservation of biological diversity is, as it has always been, central to the Club’s core mission to “Enjoy, Explore, and Protect the Planet,” and we therefore strongly support the listing of the Clear Lake hitch (lavinia exilicauda chi) under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).

“Lake Group has been actively involved in local efforts to preserve this endemic fish since 2004, when an informal group of Sierra Club volunteers began monitoring the annual spawning migration. This effort led to the creation of the Chi Council later that year. Subsequently we have played an important role in the recruitment of volunteers, and have done a great deal to spread awareness of the plight of the hitch and the activities of the Chi Council, local tribes, and other stakeholders to halt or reverse their population decline.

“Alas, it appears that these well-intended local actions have been inadequate to the task. It was already obvious in 2004 that hitch populations were dramatically reduced from their historic levels, but at that time substantial spawning runs were nonetheless still observed in Clear Lake tributaries far distant from the creeks in the Big Valley watershed. In particular, viable spawning cohorts numbering in the thousands were regularly seen in the Middle, Scotts, and Clover creek complex at the north end of the lake. Aside from a few scattered sightings, this population seems to have completely disappeared subsequent to 2006. This distressing loss has taken place despite investment of considerable monetary and human resources by the County of Lake in habitat improvements, especially the installation of a series of weirs to allow fish passage at a barrier at the Rancheria Road bridge that prevented the hitch from accessing some ten miles of their historic spawning grounds on Middle Creek.

“Additionally, fish capture during the course of tribal tagging projects has revealed that the remaining spawning adults are heavily infested with parasites and nearly universally subject to skin lesions of unknown origin—indications that the species is under extreme stress.

“The causes of hitch population decline are not definitively understood: indeed, one of the significant advantages of CESA  listing would be potential access to the funding sources needed for authoritative scientific studies of their biology and their position in the ecology of Clear Lake. Nonetheless, a number of contributing factors seem obvious. Barriers to migration that artificially restrict spawning territory—barriers present on every major Clear Lake tributary to a greater or lesser extent—have received the most public attention, though they are probably not the most important limiting factor. Dramatic loss of wetland habitat, especially the tule marshes that shelter juvenile fish, food competition from introduced fish such as silversides and threadfin shad, predation from other introduced fish such as largemouth bass, especially the voracious Florida strain, and impairments to water quality from heavy metal pollution and excessive sedimentation all are likely to have played a role in hitch decline.

“On top of this diverse array of longstanding stressors the last few years have been characterized by anomalous weather patterns, sparse spring rains, and dramatically reduced stream flows during the migration season. In the winter of 2013, removal of riparian vegetation along a key segment of Adobe Creek—along with Kelsey, one of the two creeks where hitch have been known to spawn in substantial numbers in recent years—may also have had a dramatically negative effect on adult survival and reproductive success.

“The consequence of this perfect storm has been a sparse spawning run in 2012 and a nearly nonexistent spawning run in 2013. Adverse climatic conditions and absence of normal spawning behavior have been known in the past without apparently causing irreversible harm, but that was when Clear Lake’s hitch population was abundant and thriving, a description that certainly does not apply today.

“This fish is under extreme stress, and may indeed have already passed the point of possible recovery. But according to the mandate expressed by both the state and federal Endangered Species Act, it is our responsibility as citizens to use every means in our power to prevent extinction, because every extinction impoverishes us all, and impoverishes the planet as a whole. Listing the hitch under CESA cannot guarantee its long term survival, but listing is the only plausible means available to provide the resources needed to support a good faith effort to restore the population of this iconic fish to a viable level. As an additional benefit, the improvements likely to improve the longterm survival chances of the hitch—wetland restoration in particular—will also benefit the entire ecosystem of Clear Lake and the communities that surround it.

“The evidence clearly demonstrates that after barely surviving for a number of years this species is now declining with terrifying rapidity. Its plight is dire, and the need for action urgent, with CESA listing offering its only hope of survival. The Sierra Club therefore urges the staff of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to recommend listing to the Fish and Game Commission  in the most strenuous terms possible.”

Preservation Ranch – preserved for posterity!

Over the past ten years the Redwood Chapter has focused on a campaign to protect a vast acreage of coastal forest and rolling oak woodlands near Annapolis from a project ironically called “Preservation Ranch.” This development proposal, the largest forest-to-agriculture conversion in modern California history, would have resulted in nearly 2,000 acres of the 20,000 acre property being cleared for vineyards, augmented by scattered luxury housing. In an added irony, vineyard development on this massive scale was also predicted to have adverse effects on Sonoma County’s small family-owned winegrowers.

Genuine —not ironic—preservation of our forests, woodlands, and coastal rivers lies at the heart of the Chapter’s conservation mission, and both the scale of this project and the dismal precedents it would establish have made Preservation Ranch our number one priority throughout the intervening years. While readying ourselves to participate in the dialog surrounding its environmental review, we did all we could to raise public awareness of the issues involved (including the filming of a trenchant video under the direction of former Forestry Committee chair Jay Halcomb) and also tried to persuade its primary funder—CalPERS, California’s giant state workers pension fund—that its resources would be more responsibly invested elsewhere.

On May 31 these efforts came to fruition in a very positive way, with purchase of the property by a consortium of conservation buyers led by the Virginia-based Conservation Fund in partnership with the California Coastal Conservancy, Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, and Sonoma Land Trust. The $24.5 million deal will result in the use of the land for sustainable timber production with a focus on forest health and wildlife habitat restoration, possibly including some public recreational access and the generation of income from the sale of carbon credits. The threat of commercial vineyard development and rural estate subdivision has been taken off the table—permanently!

In the words of Redwood Chapter legal chair Keith Kaulum, “it is like having a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. I think that our persistence over the years, along with other groups, is the only reason that the developer of PR, continued to delay their final proposal to the county for years. They know we were waiting for them with legal and political guns at the ready.”