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1295 Acres of Ranches were Saved with easements in 2008 in Marin County Preservation Deals

http://www.malt.org/news/easements.php

7/14/2008--on 585 acre Dolcini ranch easement

http://www.malt.org/news/easements_panfiglio.php

on 810 acre Panfiglio ranch easement. Located north of Point Reyes Station near Highway One, the easement links two other ranches protected by MALT easements, providing a permanent wildlife corridor. It becomes part of a contiguous band of protected lands totaling more than 7,600 acres. The property also serves as the headwaters of Grand Canyon Creek and Walker Creek.

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Assorted news on the Klamath River in Siskiyou County:

http://www.klamathriver.org/comments/sb670/

Klamath riverkeeper

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KlamBlog: Major new opposition to the Klamath Dam Deal emerges; Siskiyou County will negotiate over Klamath Dams’ fate.

http://klamblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/major-new-opposition-to-klamath-dam.html

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ownership map of Klamath River Basin in Oregon and California

http://klamathbasin.info/kbmap2.pdf

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Grizzly Mountain Ranch is Saved with Conservation Easement at inland North Coast Forests of Trinity County

http://www.ncrlt.org/Times_Standard_03.23.09.pdf

3/23/2009--the North Coast Regional Land Trust has acquired an easement on 1431 acre ranch in Trinity county, near Zenia, south of the Mad River.

The easement restricts development, subdivision and mineral extraction, but allows sustainable logging and cattle grazing.

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More Sprawl in North Sonoma County?

Action Alert: Cloverdale's Boundary Moves Too Far South

http://greenbelt.org

On April 1, the Cloverdale Planning Commission voted to extend the city’s boundary 1.2 miles south of town, across vineyards and open space, all the way to neighboring Asti. Unfortunately, this was not an April Fools’ Day prank.

Greenbelt Alliance was glad to see Cloverdale move one step closer to adopting an urban growth boundary, but disappointed at the decision to extend city limits so far south—essentially increasing the future size of the city by 65%. Despite strong public criticism, the Commission voted to lay the groundwork for future potential sprawling development to the south of town.

Join Greenbelt Alliance’s efforts to reverse this decision at the City Council meeting Wednesday, April 22.

When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22
Where: Cloverdale Senior Center, 311 North Main Street, Cloverdale
Info: Daisy Pistey-Lyhne at (707) 575-3661 or daisypl@greenbelt.org

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Assorted Eco News from MENDOCINO COUNTY:

http://jackso2.fatcow.com/EIR3/Alt_G_Negotiations/2007-12-17_Refreshing_Our_Memories.pdf

on Jackson State Forest management plans

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http://www.theava.com/03/0917-sinkyone.html

on sinkyone-from Anderson valley advertiser

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http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=preserving-forests-and-business

on Mendocino county forest preservation by RFFI

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http://humboldtherald.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/rat-poison-capital-mendocino-county/

mendo co becomes rat poison capital due to pot growers

“vastly more damage than Palco”

Rose O’Reilly at it again!

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http://mendocinocountry.wordpress.com/

from publisher of Mendocino Country

http://mendocinocountry.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/analysis-of-ddr-initiative/

If passed by the voters, the Specific Plan will become law without any environmental review. There is a loophole in CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] that exempts projects which are put on the ballot by petition and passed by the voters. This is because there’s no public agency which is exercising discretionary authority and which has the ability to adopt environmental mitigations. So….no EIR, no mitigations, no public hearings, no discussion.

http://www.mendocinocountry.com/independent/3issuepdfs/Indep53.pdf

has THP list

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http://www.gualalariver.org/forestry/CoastalRidges-Higgins.pdf

fishery expert on coastal ridges Robinson creek THP

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http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:fiolog2F2k8J:www.asje.org/documents/060608SchmidtsRulingMRC.pdf+%22coastal+ridges+l.l.c.%22&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

on coastal ridges llc and other big timber sales on the north coast

same as

http://www.asje.org/documents/060608SchmidtsRulingMRC.pdf. but link not working

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http://www.tws-west.org/transactions/Wilson.pdf

on Dos Rios Dam project

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http://www.northcoastjournal.com/issues/2008/07/03/feds-move-seize-properties/

feds seize pot grower properties

on three properties comprising multiple parcels in southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties. The parcels all belong to the Lost Paradise Land Corp.

The complaint identifies the three properties thus:

The first: four Mendocino parcels totaling 960 acres, which the complaint calls the “Juan CC property,” owned by Robert Juan.

The second: 10 Mendocino parcels and two Humboldt parcels totaling about 945 acres, owned by Lost Paradise Land Corp.

The third: Two Mendocino parcels of unspecified acreage owned by Graeson Prescott and Paul Sayers.

...County and state records reveal that the president of Lost Paradise Land Corp. is Robert Juan, 36; Graeson Prescott, 37, of Eureka, is the treasurer, and Brendon Clarke, 46, Loleta, is the secretary. (Clarke is not mentioned in the complaint.) The corporation bought the properties in 2004 from Eddie and Diana Mendes of Fortuna, who bought them from Hawthorne Timber Co. in 2003. (Hawthorne bought them from North American Timber, which bought them from Georgia-Pacific)...

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http://www.elksoft.com/gwa/recent/memo.html

concerns about Fisher family logging in mendo county

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ft bragg-this ain’t livin’ » Blog Archive » A Point of Contention

http://meloukhia.net/2009/01/a_point_of_contention.html

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Assorted Eco News from HUMBOLDT COUNTY:

Lost Coast Ranch

http://www.conservationfund.org/node/290

From the green ridges of the Lost Coast, the Pacific stretches to the horizon. The steep cliffs, frequent washouts, rocky hillsides and deep forests kept road builders inland and until now, made this part of Northern California a wonderful and wild stretch of the state's long coastline. To preserve this pristine area and guard against inappropriate residential development, the Fund, with support from the California Coastal Conservancy, purchased 225 acres known as Lost Coast Ranch and conveyed the property to the Bureau of Land Management. Now these dramatic cliffs, coastal streams and isolated beaches will provide shelter for a diverse population of migrating birds, anadromous fish and other wildlife.

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Loose Stuff on Pacific Lumber...

http://eddblogonline.blogspot.com/2009/04/timing-is-everything-court-declines-to.html

Timing is Everything: Court Declines to Impose Spoliation Sanctions where Critical Evidence was Destroyed Before Duty to Preserve Arose

U.S. v. Maxxam, Inc., 2009 WL 817264 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2009)

In this case, which arose from the joint purchase of the Headwaters Forest by the United States Government and the State of California, plaintiffs moved for sanctions due to the alleged spoliation of “critical” evidence by defendants Maxxam and Hurwitz. Despite finding that “certain evidence was not preserved,” the court declined to impose spoliation sanctions where there was no evidence that the destruction was intentional and where, at the time of the destruction, there was no duty to preserve.

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The problems of evidence in the ‘politics of finance’ thesis.

http://www.practicalcriticism.com/blogspace/?p=129

On Palco--Already, we can see that, if anything, this article is shaping up with a degree of hostility to environmental protestors - and so it continues.

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Humboldt Planning and development battles...

http://humboldtherald.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/rob-arkley-schwarzenegger-sucks/#comment-63052 more on Rob Arkley’s land holdings

more on Humboldt county planning

http://humboldtherald.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/dialogues-project-tackles-land-use/

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Assorted Eco News from DEL NORTE COUNTY:

http://www.smithriveralliance.org/rcranch.html

In May 2002, the Alliance acquired Rock Creek Ranch from Ralph and Dorothy Hollingsworth, who were both active and volunteered widely in the community. The Alliance is has continued that community spirit with many cooperative projects both on and off the property including youth camps, community education programs, and retreats.

The fifteen-acre property has a significant amount of Smith River frontage.


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Bear Basin Butte Botanical Area

Six Rivers National Forest Directions: From the town of Gasquet travel east on Hwy 199 10.6 miles to Little Jones Creek Rd. Follow signs to Bear Basin Butte Lookout staying on Route 16/17N05. At about 20.5 miles turn left onto 16N02 and continue to gate at 20.8.

http://www.northcoastcnps.org/plbear.htm

http://www.californiaredwoodsbirdingtrail.org/bearbasinbutte.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sixrivers/recreation/lookout/

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The Redwood Empire: Howland Hill Road Offers Majestic Beauty, located within Jedediah Smith State Park

http://redwoodempire.blogspot.com/2009/01/howland-hill-road-offers-majestic.html

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Websites that track Private Industrial Timber Company Logging Plans

http://thptracker.blogspot.com/

a blogsite with a lot of useful information

http://www.thptrackingcenter.org/thpdatabase.html

copies of the actual timber harvest plans are posted here

http://www.fire.ca.gov/ResourceManagement/THPStatusUpload/THPStatusTable.html

the state’s list

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Santa Cruz Land Trust Gets $500,000 to Create "Conservation Blueprint" for the county

3/18/2009--The Santa Cruz Land Trust has received $500,000 in grants to develop a 20-year blueprint for conservation in Santa Cruz County. The 18-month process will combine a comprehensive scientific analysis with extensive community input -with the goal of creating a community supported vision of land protection for our county. To direct this exciting project we have hired Andrea Mackenzie, the former General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. Under Andrea's leadership the past eight years, the District protected 50,000 acres of land; (Since 1992, the Sonoma O.S. District has protected more than 75,000 acres of land, including 33,000 acres of farmland). Corwin said that two-thirds of Santa Cruz County has no permanent protection, noting that 11% of the county is already developed and 22% is park land, leaving the remainder without permanent protection.


The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County protects working lands, like farms and timberland, and natural lands with high conservation values – thus protecting water supplies, wildlife habitats, and open space. The Land Trust has protected 2,200 acres of land and worked with partners to protect another 10,000 acres. It expects to protect another 1,000 acres this year.

Details are on the homepage of our website: www.LandTrustSantaCruz.org, http://landtrustsantacruz.org/press/ConservationPlanGrant_PR_3-09.pdf

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Future of Stanford University's Green Spaces in the west SF Bay Area to be Decided April 7th

http://greenfoothills.org

Dear Friend,

4/2/2009--Santa Clara County Supervisors will decide next Tuesday, April 7th, whether to approve the draft Sustainable Development Study ("Study") submitted by Stanford University as part of Stanford's promises it made for development rights in 2000. Please email or fax the Supervisors to tell them not to approve the Study without significant changes to plan a truly sustainable campus.

Where?

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' CHAMBERS
70 West Hedding Street, San Jose, California


What’s Happening:

In 2000, as part of Stanford's application for a new General Use Permit, the university demanded nearly five million square feet of development rights from Santa Clara County while refusing to give permanent or 99-year protection against development in the Stanford foothills. Stanford did agree, however, to a requirement to protect the hills beyond the Academic Growth Boundary until 2025, and to submit a non-binding, Sustainable Development Study that would show the "maximum planned buildout potential". The Study could help limit areas of future development.

Stanford claims, and County staff agrees, that because the requirement doesn't include a time limitation, they are free to create a reasonable one, and they chose one that is ten years past the current 2025 limitation. Stanford refuses to make even non-binding predictions of its growth past that point.


Why This Is Important:

The testimony and transcript of County Supervisors in the approval process for the Stanford permit clearly reflect that they meant the Study to be permanent or last at least 99 years. Nothing supports the ten year limitation past the current 2025 timeframe, not even anything said by Stanford at the time.

Nothing blocks Stanford from making non-binding forecasts in the Study that limit development in the foothills. While the forecast would be less detailed going further into the future, it can help constrain Stanford development to the appropriate areas, and encourage using the Stanford Foothills appropriately as places for recreation and for conservation biology. Stanford needs to live up to its promise of sustainability.

What You Can Do

Please email or fax Santa Clara County Supervisors by Monday, April 6th and ask them to modify the Stanford Sustainable Development Study as requested by environmental groups, San Mateo County, and Palo Alto. Ask them to extend the time period it analyzes and to apply a working definition of sustainability to the analysis.

Fax Clerk of the Board of Supervisors (408) 298-8460 (ask that the fax be distributed to all five Supervisors).

Or email all five County Supervisors at once by cutting and pasting these emails into your e-mail: george.shirakawa@bos.sccgov.org; don.gage@bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us; liz.kniss@bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us; dave.cortese@bos.sccgov.org; ken.yeager@bos.sccgov.org

Better still would be to come speak at the meeting in at 2 p.m. on Tuesday the 7th.

Please send a copy of your message to CGF so we can track our efforts on this issue: fax 650-968-8431 or email: action@GreenFoothills.org.Thanks for speaking up. Your voice does make a difference!