Vineyards in the Gualala River watershed

News

8/19/07 Wheatfield Fork Gualala River below Clark's Crossing, view upstream to Annapolis Rd Bridge. Fluctuating water levels near Annapolis?
This summer (2007), water levels in the Gualala River adjacent to "vineyard alley" in Annapolis have been fluctuating up and down dramatically, killing young steelhead.

CalPERS vineyard venture attacked
A $100 million investment in vineyards by the California Public Employees' Retirement System is sour grapes to environmentalists, who claim the project violates the pension plan's own campaign against global warming. - August 5, 2007, Sacramento Bee

"Worse than a Clearcut"
The Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club has just released a short video designed to educate the public and decision-makers about the proposed Preservation Ranch vineyard development project.

Court rules EIR required for vineyard conversion
In Sierra Club and Friends of the Gualala River v. CA. Dept. of Forestry, the appellate court rules that "...there is substantial evidence to support a fair argument that the timberland conversion project may have a significant effect on the environment, thus requiring the preparation of an EIR [Environmental Impact Report]."

Annapolis Area Timberland Conversion Project
An Environmental Impact Report is being prepared for the proposed Roessler & Martin vineyard conversions in the Annapolis area.

County can regulate location of conversions
FoGR urges Sonoma Supervisors to reconsider the County's general plan amendments regarding forestland conversion to vineyards, in view of the recent landmark decision by the California Supreme Court.

Gualala River receives national attention
An AP article, "Environmentalists Fight Vineyards' Spread," published in the Washington Post, LA Times and dozens of other newspapers in January, 2006, focuses attention on the destruction of forestland to plant vineyards in the Gualala River watershed.

Leaving something behind doesn't mitigate environmental harm
Letter from an attorney representing FoGR to Sonoma County Supervisors exposes flaws in proposed timberland conversion ordinance. "To call this 'mitigation' is tantamount to saying that a developer can mitigate the destruction of a natural resource by not having plans to destroy all of it."

Disregard for environmental regulations
Local Mendocino newspaper (AVA) editorial account of a vineyard conversion in 1991, "William Hill: Scofflaw." An early precedent of William Hill, currently proponent of the Preservation Ranch vineyard conversion project in the Gualala River watershed.

Reactive Regulation or Affirmative Land Use Planning?
Vineyard Conversions and the Fate of Coastal California Forestlands: The rising popularity and prestige of Pinot Noir wine is causing unprecedented and rapid changes of land use in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.

Chainsaw Wine
Letter to the New York Times in response to a January, 2006 article in their Dining section, "Making Wine in a Hostile Climate on Sonoma's Coast."

Timber regulations go to Sonoma Supes
"Sonoma County has moved closer to regulating conversion of timberland to vineyards..." - An article from the January 27, 2006 issue of the Independent Coast Observer. See additional articles on timberland conversion from the ICO and other publications.

Protect the Forest
Letter to the editor of the ICO, by a an owner of the Annapolis Winery, supporting forest protection and asserting that "Zoning must be clarified to create a clear definition what land is appropriate for forestland and what land is appropriate for agriculture."

Artesa vineyard conversion plan in limbo
The Department of Forestry told Artesa to prepare an environmental impact report for their proposal to convert more than 160 acres of forest to vineyard near Annapolis more than two years ago. The EIR is still nowhere in sight.

Retail restoration and forest mitigation
Vigilant public participation will be essential to ensure that political and regulatory decisions about vineyard conversion, and its mitigation, are fully informed by rigorous public interest review, and scientific scrutiny.

Forestland-to-vineyard conversion near Annapolis, northwest Sonoma County We all live downstream
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.

Stop forestland destruction
Friends of the Gualala River joined the Sierra Club in a successful legal action to strike down the Department of Forestry's approvals of three forestland to vineyard conversion projects in the Annapolis area of northwest Sonoma County, CA.

Deforestation near Annapolis
Multiple projects proposed to convert forestland to vineyards in the Annapolis area of northwest Sonoma County, CA.

Vineyard conversions & Sonoma County General Plan
Sonoma County is considering the issue of converting forestland to vineyards as part of their update to the General Plan. Friends of the Gualala River supports the strongest possible protection for Sonoma County's remaining forests.

Grapes shouldn't replace trees
The Sierra Club urges the strongest protection for our forestlands so that future generations will never ask: "Why is Sonoma County part of the Redwood Empire?"

"Nature in a Bottle"
Article on vineyard conversions in the Gualala River watershed in northwest Sonoma County, published in the Spring 2005 issue of California Wild, the magazine of the California Academy of Sciences.

North Coast Watershed Assessment Program
Some areas of the North Coast have seen rapidly increasing agricultural activity, particularly conversion of grasslands or woodlands to vineyards. Such agricultural activities have typically been subject to little agency review or regulation and can pose significant risk of chronic sediment inputs to streams.

Chainsaw Wine protest
Coastal forest activists from Sonoma County unveiled their own vintage product in front of the "Pinot on the River" gathering in Guerneville on Saturday, October 30, 2004.

Terrain Magazine: Fall 2003 "Crush"
Article on vineyards and the environment, published in the Fall 2003 "State of the Grape" issue of Terrain, the magazine of the Ecology Center in Berkeley, California.

Water or Wine?
Converting forest lands to vineyards is destroying vital habitat and reducing water quality and quantity in the Gualala River watershed.

Forestry documents available on CD
A compilation of documents on the failure of the Department of Forestry to protect the environment is available on CD - useful in preparing comments on timber harvest plans and vineyard conversions.

Half ton of pesticides used in Gualala River basin in 2001
The Critical Habitat Project of the Center for Ethics and Toxics (CETOS) issues a detailed report on pesticide use in the Gualala River watershed, including both forestry and vineyard usage.

Conversion of forestland to vineyards
The ecosystems in the Gualala River watershed are under significant pressure. More than a century of logging operations has led to the buildup of sediment and gravel in the river bed, gradually destroying the river's capability to support coho salmon, steelhead, and other indigenous species.

Logging companies generally want forest to regenerate after harvesting timber, so habitat is eventually restored (after a very long time). When forest land is converted to vineyard, clear cutting is followed by complete removal of vegetation, resulting in total and permanent destruction of the forest ecosystem. The stripped land sends large quantities of sediment into the river and its tributaries.

Pesticide application on a vineyard in Annapolis To make matters worse, the chemical-intensive agricultural methods used by today's wine industry pose a huge risk to the total watershed environment. Large quantities of pesticides and chemical fertilizers expose all species that depend on the river for water -- including humans -- to dangerous poisons. Organic alternatives exist but are not widely employed.

Vineyard irrigation presents an additional challenge to water quality throughout the watershed. Retention dams capture rainwater to be used in the vineyards, decreasing the amount of fresh water in the river and the river flow. The subsequent over-pumping of wells to recharge reservoirs can lead to aquifer depletion and impair nearby residential water wells. Human residents downstream of the vineyards are understandably concerned. Stream diversions and surface water interception are also harmful to salmonids, greatly impeding flow and raising the temperature levels critical for their survival.

With the upward trend in economic value of the California wine industry, there are an increasing number of applications to convert coastal timberland to vineyards in the Gualala River watershed. Friends of the Gualala River and many other coastal residents are concerned that these conversions would do irreparable harm to the biological health and diversity of the watershed.

The Gualala River is already listed as impaired for both sediment and temperature under section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act. Much money, time, and energy is being spent by individuals, private groups, and State and Federal agencies to restore the watershed and endangered species. The proposed vineyard conversions would negate these efforts.

For more information

Other websites with information about vineyard conversions in the Gualala River watershed