Following is a press alert sent this morning to 100 journalists. It announces Wine and Water Watch’s (www.WineWaterWatch.org) 3 actions this weekend, starting Fri. at 11 a.m. in the Sebastopol plaza gazebo, Fri. late afternoon/eve at the Occidental Farmers Market, and Sun. at the Sebastopol Farmers Market around noon. Please forward this information widely to friends and contacts.
Please RSVP to indicate which events you might attend. We need the following:
1. Photo takers, as already requested by an editor.
2. Sign makers and sign holders.
3. People willing to pass out leaflets.
4. Tables and chairs to display recent newspaper articles, and people to sit there and educate people.
Depending on how many people volunteer, RSVP, and show up, we will decide which of the possible places to locate ourselves at the main event, which will take to the sidewalks around noon in Sebastopol.
Our intention is to have an educational, peaceful event. We do not plan to march, have speakers, or disrupt traffic. We want to appeal to a wide range of people who love the coast and rural life. Following these three actions we will evaluate what we should do next in terms of action. We have been meeting and talking about these issues for over half a year; it is time to act! Let me know if you want to be involved in those smaller action-based meetings, which will be separate from our monthly meetings. We are hoping to have the next large meeting on Oct. 24 in the town of Napa.
In solidarity,
Shepherd
Save Our Coast direct action by Wine & Water Watch, 9/25, noon, downtown Sebastopol
To: Reporters & editors
From: Wine and Water Watch, www.WineWaterWatch.org
Contact: Shepherd Bliss, 707-829-8185, 3sb@comcast.net.
Wine and Water Watch (WWW) will launch a series of direct actions this weekend designed to educate people about the expanding wine industry in rural Sonoma County and in nearby counties, especially on our fragile coast. This emerging campaign seeks to “Save Our Coast.”
Our first action will be in downtown Sebastopol this Friday, Sept. 25. We will meet at 11 a.m. in the Sebastopol Plaza gazebo to make signs. We then will go to the corner of McKinley between the plaza and the Rialto Cinema and/or to the corner of Highways 116 and 12. We will provide people handouts and copies of published articles to inform them of drastic changes being discussed for the coast that would damage its fragile environment.
WWW is a four-county network–Sonoma, Napa, Lake, and Mendocino. It has hosted monthly meetings in Middletown, Jenner, Calistoga, Graton, Healdsburg, and Rohnert Park. Our mission statement follows: “We challenge the over-development of the wine tourism industry and promote ethical land and water use. We advocate agricultural practices that are ecologically regenerative.”
Some of us attended the Sept. 14 Timber Cove meeting about an effort to modify the Local Coastal Plan by Sonoma County’s Permit and Resource Management Department (PRMD.) This would allow even more wineries as event centers on the coast, thus further damaging this unique environment where land meets the sea.
The late County Supervisor Bill Kortum lead a charge 50 years ago that prevented PG&E from building a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head. Now it is time to prevent further damage to our coast’s environment.
We also plan to leaflet this Friday late afternoon/evening at the Occidental Farmers Market and then Sunday at the Sebastopol Farmers Market, starting around noon. People only have until Sept. 30 to express their concerns during this first stage. Email PRMD-LCP-Update@sonoma-county.org.