Environmentalists fight vineyards' spread

Associated Press ^ | Jan. 21, 2006 | TERENCE CHEA

[george76]

In the fog-shrouded forests of California's remote North Coast, winemakers believe they've found the perfect terrain to grow the notoriously fickle pinot noir grape prized by connoisseurs.

Vineyard developers are snapping up thousands of acres of redwoods and firs in Sonoma County, with plans to clear the trees and plant the once-obscure varietal made famous by the wine-fueled road trip film "Sideways."

Environmentalists and residents in Annapolis, a tiny town about 140 miles north of San Francisco, are trying to rein in the pinot lovers.

"If you've seen the movie, you've seen the glassy-eyed stare they have when they talk about their plans to produce pinot noir up here,"...

"We feel it's much more important for future generations to have forests on these hills than wine grapes."

As demand for California wine grows, vintners are looking for new terrain beyond traditional wine-growing regions such as the Napa and Sonoma valleys, where available land is scarce and expensive.

A group of Annapolis residents formed Friends of the Gualala River and teamed up with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups to protect the forests.

They say there isn't enough water to support more vineyards, which pollute the river and soil and threaten salmon and other wildlife with runoff.

"We're not saying you shouldn't drink wine.

We're saying there are more appropriate lands to grow wine grapes on," said Keith Kaulum, a local Sierra Club activist.

Currently, landowners who want to convert timberlands must apply for a permit from the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a process that usually requires a rigorous series of environmental studies.

[SierraWasp]

"In return for planting the vineyards, a deal has been worked out with the loggers that will feature easements of an equal amount of timberland on the ranch to be converted to old-growth status. Breeding programs for Coho and Steelhead salmon are also being developed on the property."

I guess I'm getting lost in the details here... Who owns the property in question and does this deal require the registered owner to give up ANY part of the reasons one wishes to own AND CONTROL any piece of property???

[steelie]

Still privately controlled.

[SierraWasp]

It may be privately owned, but how is it privately "controlled" if your planning commission and the BOS can be stampeded into controlling it for the owners against their wishes?

[djreece]

Thank you for the information. Now it makes a lot more sense why vineyards have been spreading over everything in sight.

[steelie]

That is the way the current owners planned the development.

The new rules are certainly a stretch towards controlling land use outside the Timber Production Zones, and are a solution looking to find a problem. I did not support the amendment but voted to send it up to the BOS.

[forester]

In return for planting the vineyards, a deal has been worked out with the loggers that will feature easements of an equal amount of timberland on the ranch to be converted to old-growth status. Breeding programs for Coho and Steelhead salmon are also being developed on the property.

I am alsol ate to this thread, but none-the-less intrigued by this statement. Loggers are generally contractors, not landowners. Waspman asked about this, but I still do not understand what this statement means. What is the BOS?. Who did Calpers buy this from? Is it a conservation easement?

As an additional piece of info: Calpers recently purchased 65,000 acres in our area from a timber outfit that was essentially barred from any further timber harvesting by State regs. So...what the hell is going on with Calpers buying large tracts of TPZ?

[hedgetrimmer]

It may be privately owned, but how is it privately "controlled" if your planning commission and the BOS can be stampeded into controlling it for the owners against their wishes?

DING DING DING

You've asked the multimillion dollar California question. Congratulations!

Must be that Gang Green or Schwarzensocialist are involved.

[hedgetrimmer]

These conversions from animal husbandry to viticulture were only possible given the availability of free government subsidies.

I've heard this before. Can you point to links or other corroboration?

[RockinRight]

So redwood trees have a right to be there, but not grapevines?

Sounds like botanical segregation to me.

Racists!

[RockinRight]

The California redwoods ARE amazing, I'll say that!

[SierraWasp]

I realize you were tryin to do the right thing, but you got out voted and over-ruled and rolled-up in the emotional stampede spurred by the militant EnvironMental Socialistas.

I'm not criticising you, but trying to get you to relate the evils occuring with this in terms that everyone else seeing this part of the thread that has not served on a Planning Commission, or BOS(County Bored of Stuporvisors) as you and I have/are.

I think there are legions lurking as well as those interacting with this site that have need of understand more precisely how landowners rights, privelidges and responsibilities as well as increasing risks are being made horribly more expensive and discouraging in a land that is supposedly free for free enterprise that is becoming extinct!!!

Some scenario descriptions complete with object lessons and examples without exposing individual privacy would be most interesting and probably useful to other FReepers.

[SierraWasp]

"That is the way the current owners planned the development."

Have you ever seen a satisfied militant and confrontational EnvironMentalist???

I guess that's ok, if the current owners planned it that way, but did they get pressured into doing it that way in the first place and are now being double crossed by their tormentors? Just asking because I've seen it happen over here in the Schwartzenegger Sierra-Nevada CONservancy!!!

[Amerigomag]

http://www.irs.gov/

[Amerigomag]

An even better resource:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/industries/content/0,,id=100092,00.html

[Amerigomag]

Notice that an agricultural NOL has a 5 year carryback against your dental, medical, finanacial planning, lending, etc. business income.

[Neocon51]

The CALPIRS financing of Pacific Premier Vineyards/Preservation Ranch was part of the Quid pro Quo scandal that got Gray Davis recalled.

Richard Wollack is a partner in Premier Pacific Vineyards/Preservation Ranch

The SF Chronicle reported May 2, 2002, on a controversy involving the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Wealthy Democratic fundraiser Richard Wollack and the huge commercial real estate firm of which he is director, CB Richard Ellis, made $25,000 in direct contributions to Davis. Wollack also hosted a $2,500 to $25,000-a-head Davis fundraiser featuring former Vice President Al Gore. Simultaneously, CalPERS-whose executive board consists of prominent Democrats, some of them Davis appointees-decided to invest $100 million of the state pension fund in Premier Pacific Vineyards, which Wollack co-founded and where he serves as co-CEO. The Chronicle reported that it was the first time CalPERS had ever invested in an agribusiness.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/02/MN44445.DTL

http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=4101

Later CALPERS gave Priemier Pacific Vineyard another $100,000,000 bringing the total to $200,000,000.

It would be interesting to know if Mr. Wollack has given contributions to the Sonoma County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors too?

A Sonoma County ex-supervisor, Ernie Carpenter now works as a revolving door consultant for Premier Pacific/Preservation Ranch/Coastal Forestlands.

[Kay Ludlow]

Okay, environmentalist wackos opposing urban sprawl at least makes sense. But opposing the spread of plants?

You misunderstand their fundamental goal. They think western Europeans are so evil, that this country must be cleansed of all traces of our existence. Pre-Columbian is a term appearing more and more often in environmentalist literature as code for "the way it was before that evil Christopher Columbus lead other western Europeans here". I know, I've been to some of their conferences, where they wax poetic about the pre-Columbian days, when everything was in the spot it evolved in... I could hardly keep from laughing!