WCB 2/2010: State to help save 10,400 acres at February meeting...

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State Wildlife Board opens checkbook a little

February 25, 2010
10:00 AM
State Capitol, Room 112
Sacramento, California 95814

https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=15856

If all purchases are completed, this would add 5699 acres to full ownership by the State and 4727 acres in conservation easements (where the land remains privately owned but the development rights are given up)

MAPS: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=25146

*7. Clear Lake Conservation Area, a donation from Lake County Watershed Protection District of a conservation easement over 102± acres of wetlands.

*9. Lower Colorado River Ecological Reserve, (Travis Donation) Riverside County
To consider the acceptance of a donation to the State of two parcels of land totaling 84± acres to protect cottonwood and mesquite woodlands and riparian habitat, located just east of Highway 95 and along the Lower Colorado River, near the City of Blythe, in Riverside County.

*10. Western Riverside County MSHСP , Expansion 1 Riverside County
acquire 49± acres adjacent to the City of Temecula

*11. Iron Mountain Wildlife Area, Expansion 4, San Diego County
acquire 311± acres as an expansion to the Department of Fish and Game’s Iron Mountain Wildlife area, for the purposes of protecting undisturbed grasslands, chaparral, oak woodlands, vernal pools and riparian habitat in the San Vicente Creek watershed, located near the community of Ramona, in San Diego County.

12. Sierra Crest Conservation Easement, $6,430,000, Phases I and II Sierra and Nevada Counties. A grant to the Truckee Donner Land Trust, subject to the availability of bond funds, for a cooperative project with the Department of Fish and Game and the Northern Sierra Partnership to acquire a conservation easement over 4,365± acres of commercial timber land to promote sustainable harvesting practices, secure wildlife migration corridors, and provide public access along a two mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail, located in the vicinity of Jackson Meadows Reservoir north of the Town of Truckee, in Nevada and Sierra Counties.

13. Holmstead Farms #4, Yuba County
acquisition of a conservation easement over 260± acres of privately-owned land for a cooperative project with Ducks Unlimited, Inc. to protect seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands and upland grasslands, located in the community of Loma Rica, in Yuba County.

15. Liberty Island, Solano and Yolo Counties
To consider the acceptance by the State of a donation of fee title to approximately 5,030 acres from the Trust for Public Land to protect riparian and upland delta habitat on Liberty Island, located just west of the Sacramento Deep Water Shipping Canal, south of the City of Davis, in Yolo and Solano Counties.

17. Willow Hole Conservation Area, Expansion 1, Riverside County
acquisition of 45± acres to protect and enhance existing regional wildlife linkages and aeolian and fluvial sand transport areas within the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Preserve reserve area, located southeast of Desert Hot Springs and north of Highway 10, in Riverside County.

18. San Diego County (Helix-Lambron and Wildcat Canyon) acquisitions of two properties totaling 180± acres

North SF Bay land trust needs $ to open land to public

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Napa Land Trust is still working to pay for 4000 acre Mountain

"the longest "mansion free" viewshed on any of the surrounding ranges in the Napa Valley."

http://www.napalandtrust.org/preserves/wildlake_duff.shtml

The Land Trust acquired Wildlake Duff for $25 million through our "Napa Valley Wild" capital campaign. We have raised all but $2.2 million and we need to raise an additional $700,000 for stewardship and administrative expenses.
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http://www.napavalleyregister.com/news/local/article_eb66d6b0-dd63-5fd5-9939-ee4c499142a7.html

4/27/2009

...When the Land Trust bought the 4,000 acres on the Wildlake and Duff properties, the plan was to negotiate a sale to the state for the land to be used as a park with public access. The Land Trust’s “Napa Valley Wild” campaign raised $27 million to acquire the properties, of which $24 million was used to purchase the two pieces of land. ($2 million in state funds were contributed to the sale by the Coastal Conservancy.)

Yet the state’s financial problems have caused this process to stall indefinitely. Consequently, the Land Trust is now charged with the stewardship of the property....

Ultimately the goal was to add both new acquisitions to Robert Louis Stevenson State Park and create a 13,000-acre oasis of protected, undeveloped land....

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for a map of preserved lands in Napa County:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGtgP5K_e5b_A5d_drXD9dugECAw-Te2JgVZCf_sMoywh2daFzOmrMYZxwjq6cBrSh7F6ObLDWANUITzr81XEfIiEz05WPwuwfbBVanECnA1BbCUEfHGwS-Y-ptc5ldMRXevyjlIFfBo/s1600-h/napa+county+2007+saved+o.s..jpg

Orange County's green vision...

What a green vision plan looks like in a county that's built-out:

Click on the map to enlarge.

to see the full size, 16 megabyte version of this map, click here:
http://fhbp.org/publications/green-vision-map.html

The areas in red shading are currently threatened with development. Notice how there's very little left that's threatened. Orange County had its last big bulldozer binge starting 20 years ago when the Irvine Company which owned the middle 1/5th of the county decided to try to pave the hills that surrounded their former orange groves, which they had paved in the previous 15 years. After long battles, the Irvine co.settled for a few choice hilltop spots and the rest is in green shading on the map.

Two coastal marsh battles in Huntington and Seal Beach resulted in around 95% of the land being saved. In far south county, eco groups cut a deal to save 3/4ths of the huge Rancho Mission Viejo, in exchange for letting the firm build 25,000 homes someday.

The battles for the last remaining parcels are continuing, Here are links to the groups doing the work:

http://www.coyotehills.org/

http://www.hillsforeveryone.org/

http://savebanningranch.org/

http://banningranchconservancy.org/

http://www.savesanonofre.com/

and their blog http://www.savesanonofre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=13&Itemid=27

www.taskforce.sierraclub.org/friendsofthefoothills/

www.angeles.sierraclub.org/ocosc/samtf.htm

www.angeles.sierraclub.org/ocosc/saddleback_canyons.htm

http://www.saddlebackcanyons.org/

http://www.bolsachicalandtrust.org/

http://www.bixby.org/parkside/

Save the Redwoods League 2009 report...

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Members Make 2009 a Good Year for Redwoods

http://www.savetheredwoods.org/enews/0110.htm

Happy New Year! We look forward to your support in 2010.

Thanks to our members’ and partners’ generous support, 2009 has been a momentous year for Save the Redwoods League:

We acquired 120 acres of key redwood forestlands, transferred more than 500 acres to public agencies and supported protection of 5,630 acres. These raise the total acres protected to more than 181,000.

read their 2009 annual report:

http://www.savetheredwoods.org/league/pdf/annualreport_09.pdf


In the 2008-9 fiscal year, we and our partners protected more than 1,100 acres of redwood forestlands valued at $8 million and transferred 831 acres to state or national
parks, reserves and federal wilderness. Despite the economic downturn, the need to save redwoods from real-estate development and timber harvesting remains.

HIGHLIGHTS:

--76 acres of old-growth redwood forest and a total of 298 acres near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County.

--46 acres of redwoods surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park

--160 acres expands wildlife habitat in the King Range National Conservation Area of Humboldt county,

--The League facilitated the purchase and transfer of 160 acres to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve in April 2008. (Mendocino COunty)

--A $480,000 land conservation agreement with the Annapolis Milling Company now protects one of the last remnants of ancient redwood forest in Sonoma County. The agreement ensures that the 20-acre grove just south of Soda Springs Reserve is permanently protected from
timber harvest and vineyard conversion.

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5,600 Acres Protected on Sonoma Coast

Save the Redwoods League and nine other partners last month helped the Sonoma Land Trust acquire the stunning 5,630-acre Jenner Headlands, including 3,100 acres of redwood and Douglas-fir forest. The parcel includes eight watersheds (Russian Gulch pictured), numerous threatened and endangered species, dramatic views, extensive opportunities for future recreation and a spectacular segment of the California Coastal Trail. North of the town of Jenner where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean, the land was purchased for $36 million. Our members made the League’s support of this project possible.

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See Aerial Photos of our state's Redwood parks

--and note the clear-cutting devastation outside the park boundaries by our state's timber lords

http://www.savetheredwoods.org/maps/index.shtml

terminate California's environment?

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Schwarzennegger seeks Enviro exemptions for 100 major construction projects

---100 developers would get to build what they want and not have to pay to fix any of the problems they cause.

1/14/2010

excerpted from
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=yk12wh3nzgx6v4

The Schwarzenegger administration seeks to exempt some 100 major construction projects across the state – including private developments – from California environmental laws. The plan, denounced by environmentalists, would block the power of the courts to review 25 projects each year from 2011 through 2014, and give final authority over the projects to his administration.

The projects have not been identified publicly, but potentially they could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars – or more.... An earlier version of the proposal drafted on Dec. 29 listed 20 construction projects across the state, arranged according to their location within the state’s patchwork of air quality management districts. The latest version increased the number of projects to 25 annually through 2014, distributed according to county clusters.

Under the proposal, 10 projects would be located within Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Five others would be located in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties. Five more would be in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties. The remaining five counties would be drawn from across the state....

The construction unions favor the jobs, but questioned whether loosening CEQA was the way to get them.

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The U.S. Senate's Budget Committee is not too keen on the idea either:

from PCL Insider, 1/22/2010

POORLY PLANNED DEVELOPMENT

The committee then critiqued the Governor's proposal to allow over 100 major new developments to bypass measures to ensure smart planning and meaningful public participation. The Department of Finance was pressed to explain how the Administration could expect developers to mitigate the impacts of their projects or include local input in the absence of any mechanisms for accountability. PCL was on hand along with several other groups to explain that the proposal would be a de facto exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act, and could lead to new toxic power plants or waste incinerators near schools and neighborhoods. Local residents would have no way to insist that a project's pollution and other impacts be mitigated to minimize harm. Again, several committee members questioned how the proposal would create jobs or improve the current budget crisis.

get yer hands dirty at new SLO coast park...

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Out With the Rain, In With the Plants at recent SLO historic park purchase

http://www.lcslo.org/projects.html

http://danaadobe.org/

500 Trees & Shrubs to be Installed in Effort to Restore Nipomo Creek

On SATURDAY, FEBRURARY 6TH, 2010, from 9am-NOON volunteers will help plant 500 native trees and plants as part of the 2nd phase of a major riparian revegetation project along the North tributary of Nipomo Creek near the historic Dana Adobe in Nipomo.

This Restoration Planting will take place on a 100-acre conservation property which was permanently protected in the fall of 2008.

WHERE TO MEET: Volunteers should park and meet at the Dana Adobe at 9am on February 6, 2010. The Dana Adobe is located at 671 S. Oakglen Ave Nipomo, CA 93444---reachable from 101 freeway north of city of Santa Maria and south of Pismo Beach. The offramp closest is Tefft Street.

WHY THIS PROPERTY? Working in partnership with The Land Conservancy, San Luis Obispo County acquired 100-acres across from the Dana Adobe, and protection of an additional 29 acres directly surrounding the historic landmark was achieved through a partnership between the non-profit Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos (DANA) and The Land Conservancy.

The restoration project is funded by the State Coastal Conservancy and CA Department of Fish & Game Office of Spill Prevention and Response from settlement monies from the Guadalupe Oil spill.

a new land trust on the north coast...

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New Land Trust saves 163 acres in Western Mendocino County

excerpted from:

http://siskiyouland.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/slc-protects-163-acres-of-mendocino-redwoods-and-meadows/

1/11/2010--Siskiyou Land Conservancy recently recorded a conservation easement that permanently protects 163 acres of privately owned second-growth redwood forestland and meadows in western Mendocino County.

The two parcels, near Elk, stretch from a rolling ridgetop to a significant salmonid stream, and feature extensive redwood groves, including some of the oldest second-growth forest in the county. The conservation easement also protects scattered “residual” old-growth redwood trees and unentered stands of old-growth Douglas fir...

(The Conservancy is directed by Greg King, who for the past several years was the Executive Director of the NorthCoast Environmental Center)

Court rejects Russian River mining...

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Syar Phase VI – Victory Over Pit Mining!

11/2009--Sometimes victory takes decades and in the case of the recent Superior Court ruling against Syar Industries efforts to continue strip mining the floodplains and groundwater aquifer it took over 25 years to stop this destructive mining.Read More...
http://www.russianriverkeeper.org/gravelmining.html

On November 10th, 2009, the Honorable Judge Robert Boyd ruled that the Syar Phase VI EIR was deficient on three points and granted our petition for Writ of Mandate to stay the approval of the EIR. The ruling found that the Syar EIR failed to explain why a reduced excavation alternative was environmentally inferior or infeasible, improperly tiers the EIR from the 1994 ARM Plan when it conflicted with the ARM Plan requirement to end pit mining in 2006 and failed to present sufficient evidence that other alternative gravel sources were inferior or infeasible. In fact Judge Boyd stated that, “An EIR or decision thereon cannot merely state that an alternative is infeasible simply because it is too expensive or will not lead to sufficient return without providing supporting analysis”. In other words since other sources of gravel exist they cannot be dismissed simply because one gravel company will not profit unless they continue mining.

Some loose stories on Mendocino County forests

Gualala river logging threatened

http://www.ncriverwatch.org/wordpress/2009/12/07/save-the-doty-creek-old-growth-grove/

http://www.gualalariver.org/forestry/Bower-NTMP.html
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HISTORICAL TIMBER OWNERSHIP MAPS

http://www.mrc.com/history_project/maps/land_own1955.pdf
mendo county forest owners in 1955—map

http://www.mrc.com/history_project/stories/property_maps.htm

http://www.mrc.com/history_project/maps/land_own2005.pdf
mendo county 2005 forest owners map

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401 acres bought in Mendocino by Save the Redwoods League

http://www.savetheredwoods.org/league/pdf/bulletin_fa08.pdf


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Humboldt happenings for 1/2010...

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The Latest news from the Humboldt Redwoods…

http://thptracker.blogspot.com/2010/01/timber-corporations-real-estate-and.html

Simpson/Green Diamond timber development plans, community forests in Arcata and Weaverville

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MAXXAM—PACIFIC LUMBER:

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2009/12/maxxam_go-private_vote_hardly_a_long_shot.html

12/2/2009--Maxxam shareholders to vote to take company private…

It’s doubtful that the take-private transaction will fail, considering the controlling stockholder group, including Charles Hurwitz, the company’s chairman and chief executive, and his son, Shawn Hurwitz, the company president, own 85 percent of the voting interests, and intend to tender them in favor of the split.

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http://www.davispolk.com/files/Publication/ee64069b-a96d-41db-bdac-1b378c2312fd/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/32b4dbc5-63fa-4073-8b5c-2070a490cbf7/ir_20091116.htm

11/17/2009--In re Pacific Lumber Co.

a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in In re Pacific Lumber Co.,[2] which confirmed a plan of reorganization that denied a group of secured noteholders their asserted right to credit bid at a private judicial sale of the secured noteholders' collateral….

http://www.rttnews.com/ViewPR.aspx?PrID=505137&SMap=1

--11/16/2009
MAXXAM Reports Results for Third Quarter 2009 and First Nine Months of 2009
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MAXXAM Inc. reported a net loss of $8.5 million, or $1.86 per share loss for the third quarter of 2009, compared to a net loss of $65.4 million, or $14.34 per share loss, for the same period of 2008. …

. It is possible that the Fifth Circuit ruling described above could result in the unwinding of the MRC/Marathon Plan Fifth Circuit. If that were to occur, the Company would be required to return the $2.25 million of cash consideration it received when the MRC/Marathon Plan was consummated, MGI would be obligated for certain tax liabilities and assumption by Palco's successor of the Palco Pension Plan would no longer be effective, among other things.

http://charleshurwitz.com/

a fan site by him for him

RICHARDSON GROVE—Highway widening:

http://saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com/2009/12/redwood-saviors-or-cyber-criminals.html

5,100 of the Center for Biological Diversity's supporters love the redwoods so much they deluged the California Department of Transportation with emails complaining of the agency's plan to slice a road through the gorgeous Richardson Grove in the state's remove North Coast.

Rather than responding to the public's concern, the Department of Transportation called the State Police Cyber Crime Division to report that they were under attack by hostile forces. Apparently interacting with the public was "diverting" the agency from its real job -- chopping down forests and paving the wilderness. A crime if there ever was one.

A police investigation determined that the agency was suffering from an acute case of citizen involvement, to which there is no cure.

Learn more about Richardson Grove. Then tell CalTrans today that the public wants its redwoods standing, not paved.

BALLOON TRACK—EX-RAILROAD PARCEL ON HUMBOLDT BAY—OWNED BY LOCAL PLUTOCRAT ROBIN ARKLEY

http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2009/12/Th14c-12-2009.pdf

balloon track—coastal com staff report

http://www.humboldthash.blogspot.com/

Balloon track

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http://watchpaul.blogspot.com/2009/11/pretty-impressive.html

Balloon Track development—she loves it

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from the Arkleys:

http://www.marinacenter.org/

http://www.marinacenter.org/WetlandsPreserve.aspx

one third will be restored wetlands

DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR SAMOA—138 acre ISLAND IN HUMBOLDT BAY

http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2010/1/F11a-1-2010.pdf

Samoa—Humboldt development plans 12-22-2009

CHANGES FOR LOCAL ECO GROUPS:

North Coast Environmental Center Moves to Central Arcata,

Visit us at our new office on the Arcata Plaza in Jacoby's Storehouse, ground floor level. We're right behind Arcata Tuxedo.

Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 9-1, Friday 9-5
Our mailing address is: P.O. Box 4259, Arcata, CA 95518

http://yournec.org/index.php?module=pagesetter&tid=3&page=41

ten years of stories on the web—starting in 2001

and why the NEC moved (hint: the recession is forcing lots of enviro groups to cut back):

The NEC's Subprime Mortgage

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/blogthing/2009/07/24/necs-subprime-mortgage/

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Wildcalifornia.org Got a Facelift

1/15/2010--It's a new era for EPIC. This afternoon we launched our redesigned website at wildcalifornia.org. If you remember the old website you will notice that the new website is a vast improvement. Information about EPIC's campaigns and programs is well-organized and easy to find. You can also access information about EPIC as an organization, review our legal history and read our new blog to stay updated on our progress. And, most important of all, our new website allows you to get involved with our work, take action on EPIC's campaigns and donate to the organization.

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/case-history/legal-highlights/

their recent lawsuits

http://www.wildcalifornia.org/blog/

their blog

We also look forward the return of Wild California, EPIC's esteemed newsletter, and the launch of a new website, very soon. We are working to make 2010 an era of increased community engagement in the issues plaguing our region.

Please consider joining us next Wednesday at Humbrews, we look forward to meeting you in person.

EPIC staff have organized a weekly gathering for people to come together to discuss important environmental threats and opportunities in our region.

What: Brews & Views! 856 10th St, Arcata

When: Wednesdays 4-6 p.m.

http://wildcalifornia.org/

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http://hnclt.org/index.html
Humboldt North coast land trust—mainly between Trinidad and McKinleyville—owns 40 acres and 5 easements