After 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 […]
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Top Climate Scientist Joins Coalition in Calling for an End to Clearcuts and Timber Plantations
July 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 MoreAn End to the Land and Water Conservation Fund?
What 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
Celebrate 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 MoreCalifornia Court Ruling Ends Decades of State Pesticide Spraying
Judge 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 MoreLogging for Water
Will 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 MoreIndigenous Group Sues State Over Recycled Water Management
PRESS 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 MoreGovernor Brown Signs Law Recognizing Forest Watersheds as Part of State’s Water System
Source 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 MoreLogging for Water
A 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 MoreLast Stands
North 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 MoreTree Growth Never Slows
Richard 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 MoreCalifornia is Failing to Protect Water Quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta
October 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 MoreConservation Groups sue EPA over Bay Delta water quality and salmon
April 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 MorePPIC Report: If Drought Continues: Environment and Poor Rural Communities Most Likely to Suffer
August 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 MorePrimer for Effectively Commenting on CEQA Projects
To 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 MoreBids for Giant North Coast Forest Land
BY 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 MoreWebinar: Keeping Our Watersheds Frack Free
Sign 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 MoreLegal Challenge to Industrial Printing in the Coastal Hills
All 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 MorePress Release: West County Residents File Lawsuit to Halt Industrial Development in Coastal Hills
A 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 MoreArtesa Vineyards Planned Near Annapolis Shelved
Robert 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 MoreSonoma County OKs $1 Million for Coast Wildland Deal
Guy 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 MoreColorful Protest of Tunnels Under Ancient Trees
John 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 MoreRiver Watch Litigation Protects North Coast Wetland
Protection 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 […]
Read MoreVolunteer for Planting Redwoods near Forestville, CA
There is a volunteer opportunity this coming January for planting redwood seedlings. This January, Forest Unlimited will be planting approximately 1,500 one-year old redwood seedlings for reforestation and erosion control at Shone Farm—the agricultural extension of Santa Rosa Junior College.This event is very popular and provides opportunities for individuals and families to work together for […]
Read MoreWater Recommendations for the Next President
Peter H. Gleick, Pacific Institute Dear Mr. President, Congratulations on winning approval from the American people to serve as leader of the United States for the next four years. We know you have a lot on your plate. But among the issues that deserve prompt attention from you and senior members of your administration is […]
Read MoreAction Alert! Stop Eureka’s 101 Bypass Through Restored Coastal Marsh!
When: Tuesday, April 17, at 6 pm Where: Eureka Council Chambers, 2nd floor of Eureka City Hall, 531 “K” Street, Eureka The Coastal Commission has gone on record saying the project—a proposal to punch a new road through the Palco Marsh from Del Norte Street to Truesdale–cannot be approved because it is not consistent with either […]
Read MoreBohemia Ranch — A happy ending and a new beginning
January 31, 2012 After many years of dramatic twists and turns, the Sonoma Land Trust and LandPaths are delighted to announce today the creation of a 554-acre ecological preserve on Bohemia Ranch located between Occidental and Monte Rio, and known to locals as “Waterfall Park.” This magical landscape is home to rare serpentine plants, tributaries […]
Read MoreBohemia Ranch History
Bohemia Ranch has a long history in Sonoma County. Once open land with a beautiful waterfall, it was held by absentee owners and was subject to much trespass and abuse, with the property becoming eroded and littered with junk. It’s beauty and wildness have not gone unnoticed, however. The Open Space District made an effort […]
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