Among recent issues before the public and environmental community in Sonoma County, few have raised more concern and universal response than the threat to forests and natural lands by vineyard conversions in the forested Northern County. Central to that response has been a two year effort to update the County’s General Plan to prevent loss of the 194,000 acres of forests in the Resource and Rural Development (RRD) land use category. County staff has drafted language for an ordinance and General Plan amendment that are far different from the Option 3 that the public overwhelmingly demanded. The language drafted by County staff includes the misleadingly named concept of "No Net Loss". This provision allows for approval of a use permit by the County of a forestland conversion if it can be shown that the project would result in "No Net Loss" of forestland.
Option 3 was supposed to have provided environmental protection, but something has gone badly wrong. Copies of the draft ordinance have not been officially released to the public but environmentalists who have seen it say that this proposal would put the forests and wildlands needing protection at even more risk than they in now. Rather than preventing large-scale conversions of forest to vineyards, the proposed "No Net Loss" amendment may actually facilitate forest destruction. We are fortunate to live in a county with a good balance of city, agriculture, and forest; we need to protect that diversity. We don't want the whole county to be paved or plowed, so we need to protect Sonoma's remaining forestland.
Due to increasing conversion threats, the effort to enact policy changes has been put on a fast track. If approved, these changes are scheduled to be put in place substantially before the final complete General Plan update is voted on. The present version as it is written must be taken off this fast track and carefully examined, and entirely revised for it to have any chance to live up to the intention that it truly affords protections, rather than making conversion of forests and wildlands for profit even easier.
Much of this land has already been heavily logged, and overlogged – taken down to less than 3,500 board feet of standing merchantable timber per acre. This is almost nothing, since it is generally agreed that debilitated lands stand at about 10,000 boardfeet per acre, productive forests at 20,000 to 40,0000 board feet per acre, and historic natural forest in the area at over 100,000 board feet per acre."No net loss" and guarantees not to log these lands for 20 years by developers are a "no net protection" for these debilitated lands. To allow for proper rehabilitation these lands should instead not be converted or logged for 40 years or more. We are trying to prevent these timberlands from being "converted" to industrial agriculture uses, mainly but not only, vineyards. Conversion of forestlands is permanent and many complex ecological processes are tragically disrupted. Once forestland is converted to agricultural or other uses, the prospect of regenerating it into a healthy forest ecosystem again is almost certainly lost forever and further development is much more likely.
With the growth of the wine industry and other agricultural demands, there has been increasing pressure even this year from outside our county, and even our country, to clear these forests and plant industrial crops. Since the Sonoma County General Plan is now being updated, now is the time for the public to express a desire to see these timberlands protected.
Conversion of forests to intensive agriculture causes fundamental changes in ecological and physical processes that maintain the quality of water, land, and air. These include: a) disruption of wildlife corridors and habitat fragmentation b) groundwater depletion c) downstream flooding d) pollution to fresh water sources caused by pesticides/herbicides, fertilizer, and sedimentation e) sub-surface hydrologic flow changes f) water diversions g) re-contouring of slopes h) deep soil disruptions i) increased peak flows in streams, causing stream bank failure and mass wasting of land j) microclimate changes affecting plants and animals k) endangered species are harmed and their habitat depleted l) aesthetic impacts m) increased infrastructure needs and costs n) the contribution of this deforestation to global warming.
Language like 'no net loss' being used in an attempt to allow conversions to vineyard and other uses, and at the some time to protect resources, will not work. Such language will turn out to be unenforceable, as the time frames of gain or loss are so large and the measurements of loss or gain so vague and subjective that protection and/or rehabilitation programs will not occur in any meaningful way. Instead, such language offers a convenient loophole (and even tax relief) for applicants to a conversion process.
Expect new information to become available in the next few weeks as this issue develops. In the meantime, please contact your Supervisor to let him or her know that this "No Net Loss" proposal is unacceptable. It is especially important to contact Supervisor Mike Reilly because his district encompasses most of Sonoma County's forests.
For more information:
http://www.redwood.sierraclub.org/sonoma
http://www.rrraul.org
http://gualalariver.org/vineyards/option3.html
RRRAUL Home | Search RRRAUL | News | Logging | Fishery | Watershed | Photographs | Contacts | Organization | Calendar | External Links |