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What's New?
A chronological listing of new information added to this site.
Gravel Mining in the Gualala River
update 8/27/08
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors are moving towards approval of a flawed permit for
gravel mining in the Gualala River that would cause adverse impacts to steelhead and impair the recovery of riparian habitats, fish and wildlife resources, streamflows and water quality.
"The Last Hurdle"
new 8/26/08
Congratulations to Rozanne Rapozo for her photograph of a steelhead swimming upstream,
which won the Environmental Award sponsored by Friends of the Gualala River
at the 2008 Art in the Redwoods Festival.
Where has the water gone?
new 8/24/08
In the summer of 2008, the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River dried up to small, isolated, shallow pools below the Annapolis Road bridge while the river's pools remained normal and stable upstream.
"Is the Future of Forest Offsets Already Here?"
new 8/23/08
Chris Kelly is spending his summer trying to catch the one that got away - the 13,900 acre Gualala River Forest in southwestern Mendocino County in California.
- August 22, 2008, The Ecosystem Marketplace
"Timber Vs. Grapes"
new 8/23/08
Preservation Ranch project would include 1,800 acres of vineyards and promises to figure prominently in west Sonoma County supervisorial race.
- August 23, 2008, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Old growth protected on former Palco land
new 8/23/08
Humboldt Redwood Company, new owner of Palco's forests,
will spare the ancient groves where tree-sits have been keeping chain saws at bay.
The message was delivered directly
to tree-sitters and included a commitment to protect from
future cutting all old growth 250 years old or more.
Gravel Mining in the Gualala River
update 8/19/08
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors hearing scheduled for August 26.
Gravel mining should be permitted only if it does not cause adverse impacts to steelhead or impair the recovery of riparian habitats, fish and wildlife resources, streamflows and water quality.
Artesa vineyard conversion plan in limbo
update 8/14/08
The Department of Forestry told Artesa to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR)
for their proposal to convert 160+ acres of forest to vineyard near Annapolis
four years ago. The law requires an EIR to be completed in one year;
Artesa's application should be denied for unreasonable delay.
"Preservation" Ranch
update 8/5/08
Sonoma County's Permit and Resource Management Department
has issued a request for early consultation on their initial study
of "Preservation" Ranch;
comments are due by September 8, 2008.
Gravel Mining in the Gualala River
update 8/5/08
Comments to the Army Corps of Engineers written by Friends of the Gualala River
and botanist Peter Baye have been added to our repository of information on
Gualala River gravel mining.
"Preservation" Ranch
new 7/21/08
The so-called "Preservation" Ranch is a 19,300 acre development in
the heart of the Gualala River watershed. Premier Pacific Vineyards
plans to destroy and fragment coastal redwood forest to plant grapes
on the ridgetops - and call that "preservation."
Gravel Mining in the Gualala River
update 7/21/08
The Army Corps of Engineers is accepting public comments on the permit application until
August 1, 2008.
Gravel mining proceeded in 2005 and 2006 without county or federal permits.
Geologists Jane Nielson and Howard Wilshire
new 6/27/08
discuss the issues presented in their new book:
The American West at Risk
Science, Myths, and Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery
Saturday, July 19, 2008
4:00 p.m. at Four-Eyed Frog Books
When discovered by European explorers and later settlers, the west boasted rich soils, bountiful fisheries, immense, dense forests, sparkling streams, untapped ore deposits, and oil bonanzas. It now faces depletion of many of these resources, and potentially serious threats to its few "renewable" resources.
The American West at Risk
establishes scientific bases for promoting local, national and world policies that maintain earth's crucial life-support systems.
Read more . . .
Fireworks over the Gualala River? Not this year
update 6/19/08
The Gualala Festivals Committee canceled their controversial plans to detonate fireworks
over the Gualala River estuary this year, after the Coastal Commission ordered them to
cease and desist, and they couldn't convince a judge to block the order.
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Older news items, see: News Archive 2008 News Archive 2007 News Archive 2006 News Archive 2005 News Archive 2004 News Archive 2003 |
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