March 21, 2021 Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times environment reporter Part of a 180-acre timber sale auctioned off for $4.2 million last November by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), their next stop was a plywood mill. Then, something unusual happened. Hilary Franz, state commissioner of public lands, pulled back nearly 40 acres with most […]
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George Plaven, Capital PressFeb 19, 2021 When it comes to critical water infrastructure in the West, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet says it is about more than dams, pipes and canals. Water security begins in the forest, along streams and rivers that flow through farms and communities, Bennet, D-Colo., said during the Family Farm Alliance annual […]
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I am a ghost of coho salmons past, once born and raised in Dutch Bill Creek, below Occidental. My last reported sighting there was in the 1960’s. I speak for all salmon and wildlife species not able to attend your meetings. Do you realize that as public servants and supposed stewards of the Russian River […]
Read MoreIn January of 2020, Forest Unlimited planted 1400 redwood seedlings on two different properties, one near Occidental and the other near Sebastopol. The plantings that took place over two days and involved the efforts of about 100 volunteers. Forest Unlimited has been doing these large plantings for at least 20 years. We estimate that the […]
Read MoreSierra Club One of the ironies of living in an era of climate change is that it underscores how much we humans have to change. We cannot stop, reduce or adapt to climate change unless we change. Yet, because change is hard, policy influencers who can make a big difference—even the best intentioned—are having a […]
Read MoreGUY KOVNERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT | December 24, 2018 Ambling through a forest on his rural Mark West area property, Ray Krauss bent over to pinch a fir tree sprout and pull it from the rain-damp ground. If the tiny green seedling grew much larger, Krauss would have to nip it with pruning shears, and were […]
Read MoreCourt Rejects Claim That SGMA “Displaces” Public Trust’s Application to California Groundwater RICHARD FRANK, August 29, 2018 The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District has issued an important decision declaring that California’s powerful public trust doctrine applies to at least some of the state’s overtaxed groundwater resources. The court’s opinion also rejects […]
Read MoreAfter years of work, the state’s Mokelumne River has been awarded Wild and Scenic status. It’s a significant win for conservationists and local residents, as well as an important example of consensus building. Written by Steve Evans Published on July 26, 2018 The Mokelumne River became California’s newest Wild and Scenic River when Governor Jerry Brown signed the natural resources budget […]
Read MoreJuly 10, 2018 by John Talberth One of the world’s leading climate scientists joined a coalition of 18 conservation, scientific, and community organizations calling on Oregon’s new Carbon Policy Office (CPO) and the Department of Forestry (ODF) to do an about-face on the state’s evolving forest carbon policy and to immediately implement measures to curb the harmful […]
Read MoreWhat has been described as “America’s most-important conservation program” is set to expire Sept. 30. Established in 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has provided—at no cost to U.S. taxpayers—millions of dollars for conservation, land acquisition, park access, infrastructure improvements, and much more. But in December 2015 Congress struck a deal to reauthorize the LWCF […]
Read MoreCelebrate Wild & Scenic Rivers @ River Rally 2018 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. Join us for these meetings, keynotes, and workshops. River Rally Apr 29-May 2, 2018 Learn more Wild & Scenic Rivers Pre-Meeting River Rally this year will include a focus on the Wild and Scenic Rivers […]
Read MoreJudge Strips State Food Agriculture Agency of Authority to Use Chemicals SACRAMENTO, Calif – A judge has ordered the California Department of Food and Agriculture to stop using chemical pesticides in its statewide program until the agency complies with state environmental laws. The injunction, issued late last week, is a sweeping victory for 11 public-health, conservation, citizen and food-safety groups and the city […]
Read MoreWill Parrish, 2016 The day after an unseasonal June rain swelled the streams of the northern Sierra Nevada, Marily Woodhouse steered her 2003 Dodge Dakota through 65 miles of winding mountain roads near Mount Lassen. Woodhouse first traversed the area on horseback shortly after moving here 25 years ago. Back then, the land was lush with life, and its towering conifer forests […]
Read MorePRESS RELEASE | FRIDAY, JUL 22, 2016 Wishtoyo Foundation filed a lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the State Water Resources Control Board over the use and management of recycled water throughout California. Wishtoyo alleges that new regulations issued by the State Board on June 7, 2016, fail to adhere to the requirements […]
Read MoreSource watersheds will now be acknowledged as infrastructure By Pacific Forest Trust – September 28, 2016, 08:27:08 AM SACRAMENTO, California September 27, 2016 – Governor Jerry Brown took a significant step today to preserve and maintain the key sources of the state’s water supply. With his signature, Assembly Bill 2480 became law, requiring recognition of […]
Read MoreA battle is brewing over whether cutting down trees will increase California’s water supply. By Will Parrish The day after an unseasonal June rain swelled the streams of the northern Sierra Nevada, Marily Woodhouse steered her 2003 Dodge Dakota through 65 miles of winding mountain roads near Mount Lassen. Woodhouse first traversed the area on […]
Read MoreNorth Coast timber conflict flares up—again By Will Parrish After an era of relative quiet compared to the so-called timber wars of the 1980s and ’90s, conflict over logging in the forests of Northern California has returned. A plan to log 100- to 150-year-old redwood trees across 320 acres of northwestern Sonoma County in the […]
Read MoreRichard Schultz/Corbis Trees — including California’s giant redwoods — add an increasing amount of mass every year. Many foresters have long assumed that trees gradually lose their vigour as they mature, but a new analysis suggests that the larger a tree gets, the more kilos of carbon it puts on each year. “The trees that […]
Read MoreOctober 29, 2015 Kate Poole California is not just dragging its feet when it comes to updating and enforcing water quality standards for the beleaguered San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. Instead, the State appears to be up to its neck in cement, paralyzed in its ability to enforce and update critical water quality standards for the […]
Read MoreApril 23, 2016, Maven From the NRDC: Conservation groups filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today – on Earth Day – for failing to protect water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta under the Clean Water Act. This failure could result in several native fish species going extinct, toxic algal blooms becoming […]
Read MoreAugust 19, 2015, Maven Urban areas in best shape; Farmers adapting but vulnerable If the California drought continues another two to three years, the state will face increasingly acute challenges in two areas: water supply in some low-income rural communities, where wells are running dry; and ecosystems, where the state’s iconic biodiversity is under severe […]
Read MoreTo All, Here is a primer for addressing and commenting on projects that invoke the CEQA process that aid in getting a better review. Larry County Process for Discretionary Use Permits: Granting a Use Permit is discretionary; thus, public officials have the legal right to deny the project or approve the project provided the County […]
Read MoreBY MARY CALLAHAN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT February 9, 2015 A coalition of conservation groups with visions of riverfront parkland, environmentally friendly forestry practices and watershed preservation will submit a bid Tuesday on 30,000 acres of redwood timber holdings and bluff-top land at the mouth of the Gualala River, straddling Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Led by […]
Read MoreSign up and listen and watch, “Keeping Our Watersheds Frack Free” webinar on Thursday, December 4th, 2014 at 11 am PST. From Pennsylvania to California, from Colorado to Texas, the dirty form of gas drilling known as fracking is contaminating our water and threatening our communities. Join Clean Water Network’s webinar to learn about the […]
Read MoreAll that you see in this aerial view taken in the coastal hills of western Sonoma County was built without a General Plan Amendment and the required Environmental Impact Report. This industrial land use is unrelated to our local agriculture or natural resources and defies our General Plan. A major expansion of this printing factory, Dharma […]
Read MoreA group of West County residents filed suit Thursday in Sonoma County Superior Court to stop an expansion of the Ratna Ling Meditation Center that would put an industrial scale printing and storage facility in an otherwise rural area in the Cazadero hills. [www.sonomacoastalhillsruralpreservation.org ] The lawsuit contends that the Board of Supervisors’ June approval […]
Read MoreRobert Digitales, Press Democrat June 3, 2014 The decision was hailed by environmentalists, who last year persuaded a Sonoma County judge to rule that the vineyard project’s environmental studies were flawed. “For us and the forest, it’s great news,” Friends of the Gualala River President Chris Poehlmann said of the winery’s decision. Artesa spokesman Sam […]
Read MoreGuy Kovner, Press Democrat May 20, 2014 Hikers are expected to gain access to a stunning Sonoma County coastal vista point through a $1 million public contribution to a wildland conservation deal approved by county supervisors on Tuesday. Supervisors gushed over the beauty of the 238-acre Pole Mountain property north of Jenner, which includes oak woodlands, […]
Read MoreJohn Cruz Many friends of the ancient trees and their ecosystem visited Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve on Sunday, May 4 to protest the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s proposed water system developments there. After they learned of threats to the redwoods from new water wells, surface trenching, and underground tunneling among the trees in […]
Read MoreProtection for Wetlands River Watch achieved substantial protection for a northcoast wetland, agreeing with Rouse Properties Inc. on a comprehensive set of steps to ensure maintenance of approximately 15 acres adjoining the Bayshore Mall in Eureka. River Watch filed litigation in 2012 alleging failure by the owners of the Mall to comply with its obligations […]
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