When it comes to water, we all live downstream. That’s why the vineyard development that is eliminating the redwood forests of Annapolis is so important to the lower reaches of the Gualala River and its estuary. The Gualala River already suffers from water quality problems such as sedimentation, aggradation, increased temperatures, habitat changes, and the […]
Read MoreCategory: Viticulture not food agriculture Impacts
Vineyard Conversion at Pomo Heritage Land in Annapolis
Erasing Forests & History? by Peter Baye Friends of the Gualala River A version of this article appeared in the October issue of the Sonoma County Gazette Sonoma County residents are familiar with environmental impacts of vineyard conversions, but the Artesa project proposed by Codorniu Napa’s Artesa winery adds a new cultural dimension. Another Forest-to-Vineyard […]
Read MorePomo elders speak out about vineyards
Where we used to live, no one can see anything now. It is time we open our mouths. Those vineyard people are interfering with our ancestors’ area. Wherever our villages were, wherever we picked our food, those places are blessed places. When we had to live in two worlds, we had to get along with […]
Read MoreComment on Groundwater Deplection Detected From Space
Some great research and data is evolving on mapping groundwater depletion. Unfortunately, ACWA’s (Assoc. of Calif. Water Agencies) response to groundwater depletion is totally misguided – ‘if you look too closely at it, someone will want to regulate it. In the meantime, let’s pump like there’s no tomorrow.’ I suspect that a similar response would […]
Read MorePublic Workshop on Water Diversion Measurement
PUBLIC WORKSHOP ON WATER DIVERSION MEASUREMENT Thursday, July 21, 2011 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cal/EPA Building – Coastal Hearing Room 1001 I Street, Second Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 This workshop will be informal. While a quorum of the State Water Board may be present, the State Water Board will not take formal action at this […]
Read MoreNews Blackout on Clearing Redwoods for Vineyards
I thought I would share a letter sent to the Press Democrat who blatantly had a story blackout on a crucial issue for Sonoma County–clearcutting hundreds of acres of redwoods to put in more grapes for wine making while the rest of the state and country had the story covered. Shameless. –Larry Dear Editor: Newspapers […]
Read MoreNOTICE OF PUBLIC WORKSHOP PROPOSED TOXICITY STUDY
NOTICE OF PUBLIC WORKSHOP PROPOSED TOXICITY STUDY Edmund G. Brown Jr. Governor STATEWIDE GENERAL NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT FOR RESIDUAL PESTICIDE DISCHARGES FROM AQUATIC ANIMAL INVASIVE SPECIES CONTROL APPLICATIONS, SPRAY APPLICATIONS, VECTOR CONTROL, AND WEED CONTROL (COLLECTIVELY STATEWIDE GENERAL PESTICIDE PERMITS) Wednesday, June 22, 2011 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Klamath Training Room […]
Read MoreWine Industry in Sonoma County
At a recent Praxis event featuring John Perkins where Perkins spoke in enthusiastic terms about movements in various regions of the globe, especially Central and South America, towards anticorporate, antiglobalization, sustainable forms of social, economic and political organization, I made a critical comment about the reluctance of local Sonomans to acknowledge the unsustainable practices and […]
Read MorePlan to Cut Forest for Vineyards Faces Opposition
JASON DEAREN, Associated Press June 12, 2011 ANNAPOLIS, Calif.—The ocean fog and cool climate of California’s rugged northern coast allow redwood trees to thrive and help give wine grapes a distinctive flavor. But in the village of Annapolis in Sonoma County’s coastal mountains, a quiet battle is pitting trees against vineyards. Here, where many homes […]
Read MoreOutcry over clear-cutting
PAUL PAYNE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT May 31, 2011 A long-running land battle between a winemaker and his irksome neighbor has escalated into Sebastopol-area ire over the clear-cutting of eight acres along Gravenstein Highway. The neighbor, political gadfly John Jenkel, said that within days of an auction in which part of his ranch was sold […]
Read MorePaul Hobbs LP, Clearcutting, and Vineyards
In the last few weeks Paul Hobbs LP has been clearcutting the former properties of John Jenkel along Highway 116 near Graton Road in order to put in more vineyards. The clearcutting along 116 in Graton has shocked and outraged many West County residents. Paul Hobbs LP has also clearcut 10 acres of ridge top […]
Read MoreLetter to Supervisor Carrillo on Hobbs’ Clearcuts
Dear Mr Carrillo, As a 40 year resident, landowner and voter in Sonoma County I am deeply disturbed at the recent destruction of trees by Mr Paul Hobbs and his associates in the Highway 116 corridor. His actions show that he has little respect for the well-being of our landscape and water supply, the opinions […]
Read MoreUrgent Action on EPA Stormwater-Send by Monday, May 16
Dear Partners for Clean Water, As partners in a statewide effort to secure protections for polluted waterways, we ask for your help in letting U.S. EPA know that Californians support strong federal leadership on reducing storm water pollution and restoring the health of polluted lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries and coastal waters. In November 2010, EPA […]
Read MoreAction on Ending Methyl Iodide
Environmental groups have been working hard the past five years to stop the use of cancer-causing methyl iodide, called by scientists “one of the most toxic chemicals on earth.” Now, that work is beginning to pay off. The EPA is currently reconsidering its decision to keep methyl iodide on the market, despite intense pressure from […]
Read MoreThe Death Embrace of Water and Wine
Drinking Our Rivers Dry By WILL PARRISH The latest in California’s North Coast wine oligarchy’s long series of legislative coups de grace occurred on December 14. In a 5-0 vote, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors rubber-stamped new regulations on frost protection in the Russian River water basin, now in its death throes after having […]
Read MoreDraining Our Rivers Dry, Will Parrish, Mar. 3, 7 pm
To All, Here is a worthwhile event on how our streams are being dewatered destroying salmonids and other wildlife. –Larry The North Coast Wine Industry: Draining Our Rivers Dry Thursday, March 3, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Gualala Arts Center Investigative reporter, Will Parrish Friends of the Gualala River sponsors a special public presentation on Thursday, March 3, 7:00 […]
Read MoreWhen They Came For The Navarro
Will Parrish on Feb 11, 2011 The North Coast wine industry has long acted out a pathological conviction that it is entitled to virtually every single drop of water in every watershed it touches. As in the case of Sonoma County’s recent frost protec tion ordinance, which I detailed in the December 14 Anderson Valley […]
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