Park Saves Views from the Ocean to Mount Lassen

Lake County finally owns Mount Konocti

$2.5 million purchases completes acquisition

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091113/ARTICLES/911139868/1349

11/13/2009

After a century in private hands, Mount Konocti's tallest peak and more than 1,300 acres of surrounding land became public property on Friday.
"We just bought a mountain," Lake County Public Services Director Kim Clymire said shortly after the final papers were signed."It's a dream come true," said Lake County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox. The $2.6 million purchase will preserve Clear Lake's most recognizable backdrop and open the land and its spectacular views to hikers."On a clear day, you can see Mount Lassen," Clymire said.The purchase completes a two-part deal struck between Lake County officials and the Fowler Family Trust. It includes 4,400 foot-tall Wright Peak, the tallest of four major peaks on Mount Konocti, and two lesser summits, South and Howard peaks.Last year, the county purchased the second-tallest peak — Buckingham — along with 176 acres for $1.2 million.That purchase included a cell tower facility whose operator pays the county about $100,000 a year, money that will be used to improve and maintain the property.The county's new acquisition is adjacent to 821 acres of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management.Between the county and state, all but about 1,000 acres of Mount Konocti is now in public ownership, Clymire said.An access road to the Mount Konocti property, located near Kelseyville, needs to be altered before the land can be opened to the public, Cox said.Use of the property also must be decided. Motorized vehicles and hunting will be prohibited, a condition of the purchase agreement. Public access also will be limited to day use, with some possible exceptions, Clymire said. The county has been holding public hearings to determine the best use of the property. Officials also are working out public access agreements for Wright Peak, which offers Mount Konocti's best views, including of Lake Berryessa, Mount Lassen and the Sutter Buttes. The peak's top five acres and a fire lookout belong to CalFire, Clymire said.The county also wants to extend public access from its property on Mount Konocti to Clear Lake State Park. Only a few land parcels stand in the way, Cox said. Federal and state officials are interested in helping the county link the two parks, he said."We all have the same goal," Cox said.


OTHER LINKS:

Lake County News | California - Konocti Regional Trails system takes shape

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/5174/764/

8/3/2008--great photo of Mt. Konocti

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/1861/702/

9/23/2007--Lake county north shore ridgeline trail system

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/10331/764/

9/15/2009--Mt. Konocti purchase goes into escrow—great photo

Adopt a baby redwood tree--Lumber Companies don't need 'em now...

11/22/2009--the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Thousands of foot-tall orphaned baby redwood trees sit in rows in a Humboldt County greenhouse, products of the ongoing economic slump and changes in forestry practices.

They were grown for replanting commercial timberland then abandoned when they were no longer needed.

"One of the problems is the markets are so bad, we can't afford to log," said Art Harwood, executive director of the nonprofit Redwood Forest Foundation, which owns 50,000 acres of timberland in Mendocino County. When existing trees aren't harvested, the need and financial resources to plant new trees declines, he said. The foundation is relocating about 70,000 orphaned trees through a fundraising adopt-a-tree program.

The last few years have been tough on the timber industry, which saw demand and prices for its products drop dramatically...

for full story:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091122/ARTICLES/911229955?Title=Anyone-need-a-redwood-

Land Swap over Long Beach wetland drags on...

-
Toxins and Fighting over what to swap to a developer for South L.A. County's Largest coastal wetland slows 20 years of progress to save 175 acres

(NOTE: we covered this land swap more extensively here:
http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/2008/11/land-swap-saves-last-unprotected-large.html)

11/17/2009--L.A. Times by Louis Sahagun--Toxins found in wetlands threaten to quash land swap-- EPA requires more study of the area after tests find 2,000 times the recommended level of carcinogenic PCBs in Los Cerritos Wetlands. The deal to preserve the marsh area could founder in the meantime.

Few environmental issues in Long Beach have caused more controversy than the land swap trumpeted a year ago as a way to preserve the 175-acre core of the urban wetlands bordered by Pacific Coast Highway, Studebaker Road and Los Cerritos Channel.

Under the terms of the deal, 52 acres of city-owned land were to be traded to local developer LCW Partners, which owns the wetlands. The city then planned to sell the marsh to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority for $25 million.

But it didn't turn out that way. After a year of battles with low-income residents who complained the proposal would benefit the city's wealthier eastern half and intense scrutiny from elected officials and nearby homeowners, it was whittled down to nearly 38 acres of wetlands in return for a 12 acre downtown service yard....

for rest of story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wetlands17-2009nov17,0,2947994.story


----------------------------------
To read more details:

swap deal with the City of Long Beach for approximately 12.1 acres of the public service
yard for approximately 34.77 acres within the Los Cerritos Wetlands Complex south of
Second Street.

http://lcwetlands.org/board/2009-08-12/LCWA_BoardReport_0809%201.pdf

Mega lawsuit against Mega-Tejon paving project...

New Groups Join Fight to Save Tejon Ranch
--Suit Filed to Stop Luxury Sprawl Megadevelopment

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/tejon-ranch-11-12-2009.html

11/12/2009--BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— A coalition of endangered species advocates, Native Americans, environmental justice advocates, and local residents filed suit today to overturn Kern County’s approval of the controversial Tejon Mountain Village resort development on Tejon Ranch, California. The growing opposition is drawn together by concern for the California condor, the sacred sites of the Chumash people, air quality degredation, and decreased quality of life for current residents if the sprawl complex is built.

The development of luxury homes, golf courses, and hotels would destroy critical habitat of the iconic and severely endangered California condor and would potentially derail the most expensive species-recovery effort ever attempted. The project would add significant air pollutants and greenhouse gases to an area that already suffers from the worst air pollution in the country. It would rely entirely on water unsustainably imported from the State Water Project, and is sited on top of two of the largest earthquake faults in the country – as well as in an area known for catastrophic and deadly wildfires.

The suit was filed under the California Environmental Quality Act in Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield by the Center for Biological Diversity, Wishtoyo Foundation, TriCounty Watchdogs, and the Center on Race, Poverty, & the Environment. Final environmental-review documents were approved by the Kern County Board of Supervisors on October 5, 2009.

“All of California will suffer if this project gets built – more water will be stolen, the bird that graces our quarter will be doomed, our air will get dirtier, and thousands of people will be placed in harm’s way because of earthquakes and wildfires that will inevitably follow – all so Wall Street can make another quick buck,” said Adam Keats, director of the Urban Wildlands Program at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Tejon Ranch Company is heavily invested in by Third Avenue Real Estate Investments (TAREX), a firm that specializes in speculative real estate in environmentally sensitive areas (TAREX is a primary owner of St. Joe in Florida, another hotly contested and destructive development project).

Tejon Ranch, including the area Tejon Mountain Village is planned for, was historically occupied by three different Native American tribes whose land was stolen by the original owner of Tejon Ranch. The condor is one of the most important spiritual symbols to the region’s Native Americans.

“Tejon Mountain Village threatens Chumash village sites and sacred places, which is devastating to Chumash people,” said Mati Waiya, Chumash ceremonial elder and executive director of the Wishtoyo Foundation and its Ventura Coastkeeper Program. “It also threatens our sacred and cultural relationship with the California condor that is depicted in our ancient cave paintings and told in our stories, which have been passed down from generation to generation for more than 10,000 years. It is important that we as Chumash people protect our sacred grounds and our ancestors’ burial sites, and continue our elders’ work from the early ’80s to help bring back the California condor population, from 22 left in the wild to a still-scarce population of more than 140. The cultural impact of this proposed development and the accompanying proposed desecration of Chumash cultural resources and our sacred California condor is, once again, a demonstration of greed and disregard for Native American people and cultures.”

The project, located in the rugged Tehachapi Mountains along the “Grapevine” pass of Interstate 5, would add tremendously to the already overburdened highway – the only road off the mountain in either direction.

“This highway is already maxed out with thousands of cars and trucks – it can’t handle a project of this scale, which would more than double the population of the area,” said Jan de Leeuw of the TriCounty Watchdogs, a local citizen group based in nearby Frazier Park. “If this project goes forward, we’re looking at a traffic nightmare getting even worse, with sprawl development filling in everything from Los Angeles to Bakersfield.”

“Tejon Mountain Village straddles the two worst-performing air districts in the country,” said Brent Newell of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. “Thousands of car trips going in and out of this resort – which we all know will include daily commuters, given its proximity to Los Angeles – will further dirty the air and increase pollution-related health problems of the people who live here.”

Preserving Tejon Ranch as a new national or state park would protect a bounty of native plant and animal communities, cultural and historic features, and scenic vistas. See http://www.savetejonranch.org.

------------------------------

Latest Tejon news stories

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/columnist/henry/x2067559308/LOIS-HENRY-Stop-building-homes-based-on-dream-water

10/3/2009

“That brings reliability down to more like 50 percent, according to some local water district folks I've spoken with.

That's not good enough to base a housing development on, not matter how water-wise it is.”

http://ecoworldly.com/2009/11/13/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-condor-killing-development-save-tejon-ranch/

11/13/2009

http://www.care2.com/news/member/100041282/1302830

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2009/11/tejon_got_servednew_lawsuit_for_mega_project.php

11/12/2009

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x1816604894/Groups-sue-over-Tejon-development

11/12/2009

http://topics.treehugger.com/article/07CYcEQa5mbky?q=%22urban+planning%22+OR+%22city+planning%22+OR+%22urban+design%22+OR+%22city+design%22+OR+%22town+planning%22+OR+sprawl++

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/tejon-ranch-11-12-2009.html

11/12/2009

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/save_tejon_ranch/index.html

http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/letters/x1260873660/Board-is-for-sale

the Kern Board of Supervisors is for sale

10/21/2009

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x1722027440/Lawsuit-likely-after-supervisors-approve-Tejon-project

10/6/2009

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/center/articles/2009/bakersfield-californian-10-06-2009.html

10/6/2009

http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Jburger/50235

10/3/2009

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x2067559225/Form-letter-e-mails-flood-county-supervisors-boxes

10/2/2009

http://mountainenterprise.com/atf.php?sid=5733&current_edition=2009-10-02

“Master Builders and Development Poker”

10/5/2009

http://www.care2.com/news/member/100041282/1264913

photos of condors

http://leblog.exuberance.com/2009/10/save-tejon-ranch.html

pretty wildflower picture

----------------------------------

http://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/2009/10/02/wall-street-will-be-killing-many-condors/

text and maps of wind power’s impacts on condors

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2009/10/02/condor-killing-development-company-receives-governor%E2%80%99s-conservation-award/

-------------------------------------------

http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred/51595

11/7/2009—is there an Indian tribe working with Tejon Ranch company to open a casino?

http://mountainenterprise.com/atf.php?sid=5969&current_edition=2009-11-06

more on one Tejon tribe seeking a casino

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/17-News-Special-Report-Betting-on-Bakersfield/JxUUIICIHUOxOIl7SW58eQ.cspx

http://math-lesson-plans-online.blogspot.com/2009/10/tribe-challenges-tejon-ranch.html

tribe challenges Tejon Ranch’s ownership of the Ranch

http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Jburger/50156

10/1/2009

http://snooperazzi.com/index.php?/SnoopMobile/ca-tribe-challenges-tejon-ranch-development.html

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x746311556/Tribe-elder-challenges-Tejon-project

9/30/2009

http://mountainenterprise.com/atf.php?sid=5715&current_edition=2009-09-25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htBTd-O9Gu0

for a video on this

http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/ca-tribe-challenges-tejon-ranch-development/4170099565

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-335812

http://mountainenterprise.com/atf.php?sid=5635&current_edition=2009-09-18

9/18/2009

---------------------------------------------

http://ecoworldly.com/2009/10/02/condor-killing-development-company-receives-governors-conservation-award/

Schwarzenegger pats Tejon Ranch corp. on the back

10/2/2009

Good aerial photo

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS158285+01-Oct-2009+BW20091001

more on the goobernator

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/27/opinion/oe-rosenberg27

America needs more 'crown jewels'--Tejon should be a national park

9/27/2009

http://.newnationalparks.org

-----------------

http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/deleeuw/50526

on the original ranchwide agreement

10/11/2009

http://www.cuddyvalley.org/blogs/nimby/?p=395

---------------------------

http://mountainenterprise.com/atf.php?sid=5805&current_edition=2009-10-02

Kern Planning commission limits size of Frazier Park Estates to 188 homes; they had sought 662 homes

10/8/2009

http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Jburger/50440

blow-by-blow coverage of the hearing

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Balderdash!, Jack.

3500 lots means nothing to speculators without the water and roads and geology studies and endangered species act exemptions etc that they'd need to get away with anything on the land. Those speculators would go broke against the lawsuits that would be thrown against them.

You underestimate the anger of the grassroots environmental community in California. We are going to rain hellfire on this project in the courts. The sellout groups mean absolutely zip. As a veteran of taking on battles termed a lost cause by the corporate eco groups and bankrupting our opponents (at the Ballona Wetlands in L.A.), I know how much difference the real environmentalists can make.

This battle is only just beginning....

http://www.cuddyvalley.org/blogs/nimby/?p=395&cpage=1#comment-3292

----------------------

SMMC-MRCA 9/2/2009 to 11/4/2009

-

L.A. County Rim of the Valley parks update: Threats and gifts for Sept. to November 2009

HIGHLIGHTS:

THREATS TO THE HILLS ABOVE MALIBU AND EAST SIDE OF CITY OF SANTA CLARITA

PURCHASE AND DONATION OF OVER 150 ACRES IN THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS AND SANTA CLARITA/AGUA DULCE/ACTON AREAS

--CRUZAN MESA--Development and preservation of habitat

--80 acre gift in Stokes Canyon, upper Malibu Creek near Calabasas

--150 acre—5 home housing tract proposed in hills above Malibu

SANTA CLARITA VALLEY:

DEVELOPMENT ON CRUZAN MESA VERNAL POOLS HABOITAT--SMMC 10/5/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to Los Angeles County on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Skyline Ranch Project, Cruzan Mesa, unincorporated Los Angeles County, sch No. 2004101090. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment] [Comment Letter]

DEVELOPMENT—GENERAL PLAN--SMMC 10/5/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to Los Angeles County on the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for the Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan Update - One Valley One Vision, sch No. 2008071119. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] [Attachment] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 1A] [Attachment 2A]

1.6 acre CONSERVATION EASEMENT--MRCA 11/4/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of an approximately 1.6-acre mitigation project conservation easement along Hasley Canyon Creek on APNs 3247-032-035 and 3247-032-051 and acceptance of processing fee, Hasley Canyon, unincorporated Santa Clarita area. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Map 3] [Attachment]

74 acres--MRCA 10/7/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing the expenditure of SMM-0742 funds to purchase parcels in Los Angeles County Chapter 8 Agreements 2535 and 2592, unincorporated los Angeles County. [Map 1] [Map 2] [Map 3] [Staff Report] [Resolution]

SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS:

MRCA 9/2/2009--Consideration of resolution amending Resolution No. 09-98 to authorize the use of Proposition A funds for the acquisition of APN 2260-014-006, for the Coastal Slope Trail, City of Malibu. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment] [Map]

-----------------------------------------------------

DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL OF 150 ACRES ABOVE SWEETWATER MESA—CENTRAL MALIBU, BY “THE EDGE”, GUITARIST IN THE BAND U2--SMMC 10/5/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter(s) to the California Coastal Commission on the following five related projects and lot line adjustment in the Sweetwater Mesa Road area in the unincorporated Malibu area: (a). Application No. 4-07-067 Lunch Properties lllp; (b) Application No. 4-07-068 Vera Properties lllp; (c) Application No. 4-07-146 Mulryan Properties lllp; (d) Application No. 4-07-147 Morleigh Properties lllp; (e) Application No. 4-07-148 Mulryan Properties lllp and Morleigh Properties lllp, and (f) Application No. 4-08-043 Ronan Properties lllp. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Comment Letter]

-------------------------------------------------------

½ ACRE--MRCA 10/7/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing the acceptance of APN 2290-025-021, approximately 0.5 acres as a donation, Encino area of Los Angeles. [Map 1] [Map 2] [Staff Report] [Resolution]

MRCA 10/7/2009--Consideration of resolution amending Resolution No. 07-155 to refine the list of potential City-owned surplus properties authorized to be acquired in Beverly Glen and authorizing entering into an agreement with the City of Los Angeles assuring that a portion of the City's proceeds shall be used for the acquisition of all or portions of APNs 5565-003-036, 037, 038, 039, 040 and 041 in Laurel Canyon. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map] [Map 2] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Attachment 4]

1.73 ACRES--MRCA 10/7/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing the use of Santa Monica Mountains Open Space Preservation Assessment District No. 2 (Area G) funds to acquire APN 2290-025-020 comprised of 1.73 acres in Encino, City of Los Angeles. Negotiators: David Zanath, Bank of Arizona and Joseph T. Edmiston. Under consideration: price and terms. (This subsection of the item may be heard in closed session pursuant to the Government Code § 54956.8). [Staff Report] [Resolution]

MRCA 11/4/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of the offers to dedicate scenic easements associated with Coastal Development Permit No. 5-84-137 and 5-84-732 (J.D. Stout Co.), in and around Escondido Canyon, Malibu. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map 1] [Map 2]

½ ACRE--MRCA 11/4/2009--Consideration resolution authorizing acceptance of an approximately 0.5-acre conservation easement for cross-Mulholland Drive wildlife movement purposes on APN 4385-021-010, Benedict Canyon, City of Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

DEVELOPMENT AND LAND GIFT--MRCA 11/4/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing co-application to the California Coastal Commission (application number 4-08-075) for a Coastal Development Permit for redivision of three parcels pursuant to early donation of APN 4438-034-905 as an approximately 10-acre fee-simple mitigation parcel, and acceptance of processing fee, Las Flores Canyon and Topanga Canyon watersheds. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Attachment]

80 ACRE DONATION--MRCA 11/4/2009--Consideration of resolution authorizing the acceptance of an 80-acre donation in Stokes Canyon, APNs 4455-014-005 and 4455-027-001, Calabasas. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map 1] [Map 2]

FOR BROKEN MRCA LINKS:

9/2/2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20110115052229/http://www.mrca.ca.gov:80/attachment.asp?agendaid=173

10/7/2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20110115052229/http://www.mrca.ca.gov:80/attachment.asp?agendaid=174

11/4/2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20110115052229/http://www.mrca.ca.gov:80/attachment.asp?agendaid=177

 

 

L.A. to buy Hill north of Downtown...

-
L.A. City to Buy 20 acres at Elephant Hill northeast of City Hall--first part of 110 acre proposed purchase sought by Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy

On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, the Los Angeles City Council voted to settle a lawsuit filed by developer Monterey Hills Investors (MHI) in 2007 after being required to undertake additional environmental review of a controversial development of 24 luxury homes on Elephant Hill in El Sereno. As part of the settlement, the City agreed to pay MHI $9 million to acquire approximately 20 acres of hillside open space....Additional thanks are in order – first to the hundreds of residents and allies who took action to demand equal environmental protections for our community. To Doug Carstens of Chatten-Brown & Carstens and Tim Grabiel and David Pettit of NRDC for their exceptional, pro-bono legal services.

for full story:

http://saveelephanthills.blogspot.com/2009/11/city-buys-elephant-hills.html

And more from our site:
http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/search?q=elephant+hill

Also, an older staff report on it from the SMMC:
http://smmc.ca.gov/pdf/attachment803_Staff%20Report.pdf

and from the L.A. Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/la-council-votes-to-buy-land-in-el-sereno-for-9-million-to-settle-lawsuit.html


the map above shows the 110 acre Elephant Hill which the City and State are interested in buying to save as parkland. The area within the red border is the 20 acres that was threatened with development and was purchased this week by L.A. City.

WCB 11/2009: State Board to save 12,762 acres for critters in November...

-
State is on end-of-the-year land buying spree

After a year of budget crisis, the State's Wildlife habitat purchase board has finally received the cash to do some deals.

SUMMARY:
154 acres-Riverside County
50 acres---Orange county
3268 acres in Humboldt County
2323 acres in Nevada County-near Lake Tahoe
5630 acres in Sonoma County
1337 acres in Monterey County

---------------------------------------

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION BOARD
http://wcb.ca.gov

NOTICE OF MEETING
November 17, 2009

MAPS: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=16430

AGENDA ITEMS


Willow Hole Conservation Area—154 acres-- $10,000.00--Riverside County
To consider the acceptance of a U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant and the approval to subgrant the federal funds to the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission to acquire two properties totaling 154± acres to protect and enhance existing regional wildlife linkages and aeolian and fluvial sand transport areas within one of four priority areas of the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Preserve areas, east of Desert Hot Springs and north of Highway 10, in Riverside County.
Funding source: Proposition 84

Trabuco Canyon, Expansion I—50 acres $0.00 --Orange County
To consider the acquisition of 50± acres to protect critical low elevation wildlife corridors, California gnatcatcher habitat, provide connectivity to other protected lands in the area and prevent habitat fragmentation located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains, in the community of Trabuco Canyon, in Orange County. All costs associated with this acquisition are being paid by the Santa Margarita Water District to settle additional mitigation obligations as a result of building an expanded water reservoir.

Cosumnes River Wildlife Area –transfer of 617 acre easement to the feds--Oneto/Denier Property, $0.00 --Sacramento County
To consider the consent to the sale of a floodplain easement by The Nature Conservancy over the 617± acre Oneto/Denier property to The Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Six Rivers (Chalk Mountain Ranch)—3268 acre conservation easement-- $35,000--
Humboldt County
a cooperative project with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the North Coast Regional Land Trust wherein the State proposes to accept federal Forest Legacy Program funds, through an interagency agreement with CAL FIRE, and the approval to apply the federal funds to acquire a conservation easement over 3,268± acres in favor of CAL FIRE to protect forest land, important scenic, fish, wildlife, riparian areas and other ecological values, located near the City of Fortuna and community of Bridgeville, in Humboldt County. Funding source: Proposition 12

Truckee Basin (Independence Lake)—2323 acres--$5,510,000--Nevada County
a grant to The Nature Conservancy… for a cooperative project with the Department of Fish and Game, Federal Desert Terminal Lake Fund, California Resources Agency, Morgan Family Foundation and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to acquire 2,323± acres of riparian forest and meadow stream habitats and to protect habitat for the federally listed Lahontan cutthroat trout, located approximately 10 miles north of the Town of Truckee, in Nevada County. Funding source: Proposition 84

Jenner Headlands—5630 acres-- $8,010,000.00--Sonoma County
To consider the allocation for a grant to the Sonoma Land Trust…to acquire fee title to the 5,630± acre Jenner Headlands property thirty miles northwest of Santa Rosa, immediately north and east of the community of Jenner, in Sonoma County. Funding source: Proposition 84

Los Vaqueros Ranch Conservation Easement—1337 acres--$8,000.00--Monterey County
to protect critical steelhead trout habitat as well as habitat for sensitive wildlife species including the red-legged frog, yellow-legged frog, western pond turtle and intact populations of native fish, oak woodlands and grasslands in Monterey County. Funding source: Proposition 1

                           ---------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE TO READERS: a board meeting of the Wildlife Conservation Board was also held on September 8, 2009. No properties were purchased.
Minutes of meeting: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=16402&inline=1

Water hogs say Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

-
They've Got balls: Water Hogs set up an "Endangered Species" Protection Group

10/16/2009
excerpted from: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/15/state/n172713D94.DTL&type=newsbayarea#ixzz0U7jhrSXJ

...Executive director Craig Manson said the federal agency should classify the threatened smelt as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Manson said he believes the designation would lead wildlife scientists to find that the smelt are being harmed by a variety of environmental and human threats, including toxic chemicals and invasive species. Pumping out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by state and federal water agencies has largely been blamed for the smelt decline.

"They need to stop loading all of the blame onto pumping because that's an easy target," said Manson, who oversaw the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Interior in the Bush administration from 2002 to 2005...

...Westlands Water District was among the water districts that argued the restrictions (on pumping to protect endangered fish) would harm Californians who depend on water from the delta. Its board president, Jean Sagouspe, is also chairman of the board of the endangered species council.

read their press release:
http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20091015/15oct20091837.html

http://bestscience.org/
their goal is to "generate additional support for environmental statutes"

Another Defeat for Bush's Calif. eco policies...

-
Fed Judge Overturns Roads Plan for So-Cal National Forests

excerpted from:
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2009/court-rules-that-southern-california-forest-plans-violate-federal-environmental-laws.html

September 30, 2009
San Francisco, CA -- A federal district court judge ruled late Tuesday that U.S. Forest Service management plans for four Southern California national forests did not adequately protect those forests' wildest landscapes. In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel agreed with seven environmental groups that the Forest Service failed to assess cumulative damage to those national forests that would be caused by piecemeal road building and other development in most of the forests' roadless areas, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The environmental groups, represented in the suit by Earthjustice attorneys Erin Tobin and Trent Orr, are the Center for Biological Diversity, Los Padres ForestWatch, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, California Native Plant Society, California Wilderness Coalition, and The Wilderness Society. "Some of the most wild and pristine areas of southern California's national forests were given a second chance with this court decision," said Ileene Anderson of the Center for Biological Diversity. "These areas provide critically important strongholds for endangered species such as steelhead, the California condor and the arroyo toad; especially during this time of climate change." "The decision vindicates the public's right to know how our national forests are managed," said Earthjustice attorney Erin Tobin. "It is a victory for southern California's wild areas and wildlife, healthy forests, and clean drinking water." At issue are more than a million acres of roadless areas within the Angeles, Los Padres, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests. The four forests, surrounded by some of the most rapidly urbanizing land in the United States, are the last remaining refuge for the region's imperiled species such as the California condor. At the same time, the forests are increasingly subject to disturbances ranging from off-road vehicle abuse to oil and gas development to invasive species, the impacts of many of which are exacerbated by road building. The challenged management plans recommended just 79,000 acres of roadless areas for possible wilderness designation and slotted more than 942,000 acres for possible road building or other development. According to the court's ruling, the Forest Service violated federal environmental law by ignoring the "larger picture" of how allowing more development in roadless areas — while recommending almost no such areas for permanent wilderness protection — would affect the forests' irreplaceable landscapes and wildlife. The court also ruled that the Forest Service's failure to consider alternative approaches for monitoring the health of forests and their wildlife that are harmed by wildfire management, energy development, and substantial off-road vehicle use was a further violation of the law...

Desert Destruction halted...

-
Fed Judge Overturns Bush's Plan for the West Mojave Desert

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/mojave-orv-09-29-2009.html

Bush-era Plan Authorizing Off-road Vehicles on Federal Lands in Mojave Desert Found Illegal by Court

9/29/2009--SAN FRANCISCO— Late Monday a federal judge rejected a Bureau of Land Management plan for managing millions of acres of public land in the California desert. In response to a challenge brought by a coalition of conservation groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Desert Survivors, the court ruled that the Bush-era West Mojave Plan violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by favoring off-road vehicle use over protection of sensitive desert resources such as endangered species and archeological sites.

“This is a huge win for the California desert,” said Lisa Belenky, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The court’s decision takes the Bureau of Land Management to task for designating thousands of miles of off-road vehicle routes while ignoring the significant damage these vehicles cause to our public lands and the wildlife that depend on these lands for their survival.”

The court rejected the Bureau’s use of a route designation “decision tree” that the agency used to designate areas for off-road vehicles – a decision tree that failed to take into account such legal requirements as the minimization of routes to limit damage to public lands and disruption of wildlife and habitats. The court found that the Bureau failed to provide adequate explanation for many of the route changes and actually added routes beyond the limit expressly set in the agency’s own planning documents.

It also found that the Bureau violated the law by failing to analyze alternatives that would reduce the number or miles of off-road vehicle routes so as to reduce impacts to resources; that the agency’s analysis of impacts of off-road vehicles on air-quality cultural resources, riparian resources, unusual plant assemblages, and sensitive species such as the Mojave fringe-toed lizard was inadequate; and that the Bureau failed to look at the impacts of cattle grazing on sensitive desert soils.

-----------------------------------
to read the judge's ruling:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/deserts/california_desert_conservation_area/pdfs/WEMO_NECO_case_order_9-28-09.pdf

"For the foregoing reasons, ...The Court GRANTS summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs on the FLPMA claims, GRANTS summary judgment on some of the NEPA claims in favor of plaintiffs, and GRANTS summary judgment on some of the NEPA claims in favor of defendants, and GRANTS summary judgment in favor of defendants on the ESA claims."