ConnectingCalifornia.org

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More Trails and Several Development Battles Near the Blueridge-Berryessa Natural Area

2/22/2009 Update from http://yolohiker.org

New trail project!

I know lots of people have noticed the lack of hikes this year. This is because I was working on starting up a new trail building project, and am pleased to announce that Tuleyome (http://tuleyome.org) is now working with Yolo County to build the first multi-use trail on the
Otis Ranch Open Space Park. The park is located across from Camp Haswell County Park, upstream from Rumsey. I’ve wanted to build trails up in this area for a while, and this
segment will eventually give access to the Blue Ridge trail from a new location. In light of the current economic downturn, money for trails and other park features will surely become scarcer, so it’s up to us, the trail users, to help improve our public lands! Dates for volunteer trail building days have been posted on the Hikes, Trips, and Events calendar on the Yolohiker webpage, and a description of the project can be found on a new Trailbuilding link on http://yolohiker.org. Be sure to come out and help build trails on our County Open Space!


Blue Ridge Trail update

A ranching family in Napa County donated a half-mile trail easement to the Napa Open Space District, which will connect the DFG Knoxville State Wildlife Area with the BLM Berryessa Peak public lands. This will bring an almost 32-mile corridor down the Blue Ridge into the public right of way, and allow for first-ever non-docent led hikes onto the 9,100-acre Berryessa Peak public lands! Tuleyome will be helping construct the trail using volunteers (that means you guys!).
Before construction can begin we need to complete the environmental review, and I am looking for a Botanist and an Ornithologist who would be willing to do some pro bono work, inventorying the route for the CEQA document. If you would love to be one of the first to see the new trail easement, and are willing to donate a day to do the field work with me, drop me an email!

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"Trust key to rangeland partnership, rancher says"(Capital Press, 1/22/09)
"Where Yolo, Colusa and Lake counties meet, a 10,000-acre patch of U.S. Bureau of Land Management-owned grassland (Payne Ranch) is the site of a special grazing project. Historically a forage ground for elk, cattle and sheep, the parcel began showing signs of over-grazing by the 1960s, but grazing continued into the 1990s. That's when the land's previous owner contacted the BLM about a sale of the property. The sale was completed about three years ago, and the BLM's original goal was to restore habitat for the bald eagle and other species and to preserve the land's cultural values ... But as a result of a noxious weed problem, grazing is back on the grassy plot under a partnership between the BLM, Elk Creek rancher Chet Vogt and a local environmental group called Tuleyome."

http://www.tuleyome.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=27

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ukiah/grazing.html

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ukiah/cachecreek.html

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/pdfs/ukiah_pdfs.Par.70383.File.dat/cachecreek_wilderness.pdf
for map

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Environmentalists push for massive north-state conservation area—Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area—1/27/2009
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1575533.html?mi_rss=Our%2520Region

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California: Will 600 homes and a golf course destroy rare Cache Creek Oak woodlands ? http://forestpolicyresearch.org/2009/01/09/california-600-homes-golf-course-destroy-rare-cache-creek-oak-woodlands/ Economic forces put into play long ago spelled certain doom for these parcels below that are marked in red…
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SOLANO COUNTY / Lawsuit opposes development / Critics say project violates plan for scenic Lagoon Valley
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/08/BAGFJC53N31.DTL

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Big vineyard plans for east side of valley Five sites totaling more than 1,000 acres in planning stages
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/local/doc498fd0973e09a333248868.txt