2012-02-19T00:36:00.000-08:00

2012-02-19 "Bohemia Ranch with waterfall saved from developers" by Peter Fimrite from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/18/BATO1N8KSC.DTL]
Two nonprofit conservation groups struck an innovative land deal last week that will permanently protect from development a forested 862-acre tract with a large waterfall in western Sonoma County.
The rugged area, known as Bohemia Ranch, is a picturesque landscape full of rare plants, redwood trees and a 30-foot waterfall next to the famous Bohemian Grove, between Occidental and Monte Rio.
The $1.45 million deal, by the Sonoma Land Trust and LandPaths, will create a 554-acre nature preserve and include conservation easements over the entire property.
"We have preserved the best and most sensitive habitat from development," said Bob Neale, the stewardship director for Sonoma Land Trust. "It's just spectacular property that is definitely worth saving."
The Sonoma Land Trust purchased a conservation easement that removed all development rights over four of the six parcels using money donated by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The other 352 acres were sold by the owners, Ted and Phyllis Swindells, to a family, which will be allowed, under the easement, to build up to two homes.

Public access -
The Swindellses signed over ownership of the 554-acre Bohemia Ecological Preserve to LandPaths, which will manage the property and provide public access through trail and habitat restoration parties, camping and outdoor recreation programs.
The Swindellses and the Parish family, which bought the other two parcels, have agreed to provide $100,000 in seed money for the management and stewardship of the preserve. No public money was spent to complete the transaction, which closed escrow Wednesday.
"In these fiscally constrained times when not only existing parks are closing, but new parks and nature preserves have little chance of being formed, I feel both euphoric and humbled that we were able to complete this deal," said Craig Anderson, the executive director of LandPaths, which will have to raise 90 percent of the money it will need to manage the property over the next 10 years. "We are relying on the model we created, 'People Powered Parks,' to help us build new infrastructure, fundraise, advise us and keep an eye on the place."

Spawning grounds -
LandPaths will still be allowed under the easement to harvest up to 10 percent of the marketable timber on the property every decade.
The land is marked by serpentine soils, rare plants, steep cliffs and the signature waterfall. Redwood and Douglas fir dominate the eastern portion and three creeks flow through the property, including Dutch Bill Creek, where coho salmon and steelhead trout spawn.
The area supports a wide range of birds and wildlife, including the northern spotted owl, osprey, the pileated woodpecker, northwestern pond turtle and dusky-footed wood rat.
"Going into the center of the property is like going into Middle Earth," Neale said. "It's quiet and serene and just lovely."

13 years in the making -
The Land Trust has been working with the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and community activists for 13 years to acquire the property, which is also known as Waterfall Park.
Previous owners were going to sell to a logger, who was planning to clear-cut about 74 acres and harvest timber on about 380 additional acres. News of that plan prompted conservationists to try to buy the land and create a wilderness park. Rallies were held, and there was a sold-out benefit concert by former Grateful Dead musicians Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh and rocker Sammy Hagar to raise money for the purchase by the Open Space District.
A $2.5 million offer was made at the time, but the owner sold it to the Swindellses instead. Ted Swindells said there were methamphetamine labs, bare gullies from four-wheel-drive vehicles, pot farms and erosion when he took charge of the property in 1999.

2 pot farms found -
A second effort to create a regional park failed in 2010 when the money couldn't be raised. Negotiations on the current deal have been going on ever since.
This past year, two pot farms were found on the property, a problem that the new custodians hope to eliminate.
"We've got 25 people showing up with shovels Monday to work on erosion," Anderson said. "We're going to continue on from there."

2012-02-17T00:35:00.000-08:00

2012-02-17 "Central Valley reps bill would upend water rights" by Carolyn Lochhead from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/16/MNM81N8JQQ.DTL]
Washington -- Representatives from the Central Valley pushed legislation through a House committee Thursday that would upend the state's system of water rights, deploying the federal government to extract water from Northern California farms, fisheries and cities to send to farmers in the valley.
The action by the House Natural Resources Committee came the same day that the House voted to require the federal government to usurp California's governance of its coastline by requiring offshore leasing for oil and gas drilling.
Neither bill is expected to become law, given strong opposition from California's Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.
But the water bill, HR1837, is a major salvo by Central Valley lawmakers, most of them Republicans but including Rep. Jim Costa, D-Hanford (Kings County), in a pitched, emotional battle over who gets water in a state whose antiquated water system is straining under the demands of a burgeoning population, a declining ecosystem and the nation's most productive farm sector.
Among other things, the legislation would halt restoration of the San Joaquin River, leaving as much as 40 miles of the river dry, restore irrigation contracts and override fish and wildlife protections in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
"Plain and simple, it's a water raid on the delta," said Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove (Sacramento County), who waged trench warfare in the committee by offering more than 20 amendments. All were defeated, but Garamendi said he was "laying down a track of information that will be useful later."

Water held in trust -
Garamendi said the valley lawmakers are attempting to "obliterate all the environmental laws of the state and federal governments and simultaneously override the California Constitution," whose public trust doctrine holds that all the waters of California are held in trust by the government for the people of California.
Feinstein and Boxer wrote a letter to the committee chairman stating their strong opposition, saying the bill would waive endangered species protections and attempt to provide more water to the valley "without accounting for where the water will come from or what the impacts will be."
Sponsored by Republican Reps. Devin Nunes of Tulare County, Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Jeff Denham of Merced, with support from Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove (Sacramento County) and Democrat Costa, the legislation cleared the House committee on a 27-17 vote.
Republicans said the legislation would "end California's man-made droughts, bring jobs and water supply certainty to the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and decrease reliance on foreign food sources."
Costa said that with the world population headed to 9 billion, "the production of food and fiber is a security issue not only for us but for the world."

Stands no chance -
But he conceded that the bill will never be enacted, saying Feinstein's participation was not sought, even though he said she has been "a champion trying to fight for water in our valley," often to the consternation of Bay Area Democrats. Costa said the bill "will never bring a single drop of water to our valley."
Cynthia Koehler, legislative director for California water for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the bill was the boldest attempt to pre-empt state water law she has ever seen.
"There is a fairly significant question about whether it is constitutional," she said. "Congress could say to every state, 'You cannot touch any water rights to preserve fish and wildlife for any purpose at all.' "
House members from the valley blamed their area's high unemployment on water shortages. Denham challenged Democrats to "come to Mendota and see the 40 percent unemployment rate."
But the Pacific Institute in Oakland concluded in a recent study on the effect of the recent state drought that chronic unemployment in the Central Valley was mainly the result of the housing downturn.

A matter of rights -
McClintock negotiated an agreement from fellow Republicans to preserve local water rights to protect his Sacramento district from the original bill, which put those rights in question. He argued that the legislation does not trounce states' rights.
Instead, he said it upholds individual rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which makes it a duty of Congress "to protect the property rights, including water rights, of every citizen against encroachment" by the state, including water he claims was expropriated to protect fisheries and "cavalierly dumped into the Pacific Ocean."
Garamendi said the bill fails to develop any new water sources and simply moves water around, violating "160 years of history, regulations and water rights. The measure "adds to the conflict without resolving the underlying problem."
Costa defended amendments to grant 900 more acre feet of delta water to Kettleman City, a tiny, isolated farming town in Kings County, and raise Shasta Dam by 15 feet. Republicans warned that the Shasta amendment was an earmark and would "poison" the overall bill, so Costa withdrew it. The Kettleman City earmark stayed.

San Pablo Bay Ecological Preservation Association